Impact of high pressure and pulsed electric fields on bioactive compounds and antioxidant activity of orange juice in comparison with traditional thermal processing

Bioactive compounds (vitamin C, carotenoids, and flavanones) and DPPH* radical scavenging capacity (RSC) were measured in orange juice (OJ) subjected to different technologies. High pressure (HP) (400 MPa/40 degrees C/1 min), pulsed electric fields (PEF) (35 kVcm(-1)/750 micros), low pasteurization (LPT) (70 degrees C/30 s), high pasteurization (HPT) (90 degrees C/1 min), HPT plus freezing (HPT+F) (-38 degrees C/15 min), and freezing (F) were studied. Among the treatments assayed, even though the losses in total vitamin C were < 9%, treatments with the higher temperatures tended to show the higher decrease in the content of both forms of vitamin C. HP treatment led to an increased (P < 0.05) carotenoid release (53.88%) and vitamin A value (38.74%). PEF treatment did not modify individual or total carotenoids content. Traditional thermal treatments did not exert any effect on total carotenoid content or vitamin A value. With regard to individual carotenoid extraction, HPT and HPT+F led to different releases of carotenoids. With respect to flavanones, HP treatment led to increased (P < 0.05) naringenin (20.16%) and hesperetin (39.88%) contents, whereas PEF treatment did not modify flavanone content. In general, pasteurization and freezing process led to a diminished (P < 0.05) naringenin content (16.04%), with no modification in hesperetin. HP and PEF treatments did not modify DPPH* RSC. In the case of traditional thermal technologies, HPT treatment showed a decrease (P < 0.05) in RSC (6.56%), whereas LPT, HPT+F, and F treatments did not modify RSC. Vitamin C modulated RSC, in terms of antioxidant concentration (EC50) and kinetics (AE = 1/EC50TEC50), in the treated and untreated OJ. In summary, HP and PEF technologies were more effective than HPT treatment in preserving bioactive compounds and RSC of freshly squeezed orange juice.