Carotenoid Profile Modification during Refrigerated Storage in Untreated and Pasteurized Orange Juice and Orange Juice Treated with High-Intensity Pulsed Electric Fields

Abstract

A comparative study was made of the evolution and modification of various carotenoids and vitamin A in untreated orange juice, pasteurized orange juice (90 °C, 20 s), and orange juice processed with high-intensity pulsed electric fields (HIPEF) (30 kV/cm, 100 μs), during 7 weeks of storage at 2 and 10 °C. The concentration of total carotenoids in the untreated juice decreased by 12.6% when the juice was pasteurized, whereas the decrease was only 6.7% when the juice was treated with HIPEF. Vitamin A was greatest in the untreated orange juice, followed by orange juice treated with HIPEF (decrease of 7.52%) and, last, pasteurized orange juice (decrease of 15.62%). The decrease in the concentrations of total carotenoids and vitamin A during storage in refrigeration was greater in the untreated orange juice and the pasteurized juice than in the juice treated with HIPEF. During storage at 10 °C, auroxanthin formed in the untreated juice and in the juice treated with HIPEF. This carotenoid is a degradation product of violaxanthin. The concentration of antheraxanthin decreased during storage, and it was converted into mutatoxanthin, except in the untreated and pasteurized orange juices stored at 2 °C. Keywords: Carotenoids; orange juice; pulsed electric fields; vitamin A; pasteurized; storage