Està subjecte a una llicència de Reconeixement-NoComercial-SenseObraDerivada 4.

The application of pulsed electric fields (PEFs) to whole tomatoes is proposed as a pre-processing treatment to obtain purees with high health-related properties. Tomato fruit was subjected to different electric field strengths (0.4, 1.2 and 2 kV cm-1) and number of pulses (5, 18 and 30 pulses). Tomatoes were stored at 4 °C for 24 h after PEF processing and then ground and mixed with 5% olive oil. The resulting tomato-based product was subjected to in vitro gastrointestinal digestion. PEF treatments significantly increased the amount and bioaccessible fraction of carotenoids in the derived product. Treatments conducted at 2 kV cm-1 and 30 pulses led to the greatest increase in the concentration of any of the carotenoids studied in tomato-based products. The amount of carotenoids incorporated into the micellar phase was increased in the products obtained from PEF-treated tomatoes, especially after the application of 5 pulses at 2 kV cm-1. Under such treatment conditions, the bioaccessibility of lycopene, δ-carotene, β-carotene, γ-carotene and lutein was increased by 132%, 2%, 53%, 527% and 125%, respectively. Therefore, the application of PEFs as a pre-treatment could be considered as a promising technology to obtain tomato derivatives with high antioxidant potential.

Bioaccessibility of carotenoids is known to be affected by different factors. This study provides useful information about the synergic effect of different factors affecting the amount and the bioaccessible fraction of carotenoids, especially lycopene, in two common tomato derivatives. The findings of this work may contribute to develop tomato derivatives with high content of bioaccessible carotenoids, leading to the enhancement of their health-promoting properties.

Està subjecte a una llicència de Reconeixement-NoComercial-SenseObraDerivada 3.0 de Creative Commons 1 Induced accumulation of individual carotenoids and quality changes in tomato fruits treated with pulsed electric fields and stored at different post-treatments temperatures.

Pulsed light (PL) is proposed as a novel strategy for the food industry to enhance the antioxidant potential of fruits and vegetables for industrial uses. The main aim of this work is to evaluate the impact of postharvest PL treatments of different spectral ranges on the carotenoid concentration as well as quality attributes of tomatoes during post‐treatment time. Doses of wide‐spectrum light (180–1100 nm), full‐spectrum without ultraviolet (UV)‐C wavelengths (305–1100 nm), and visible (VIS) + near‐infrared light (NIR) (400–1100 nm) were compared. Total carotenoids, lycopene, and chlorophyll contents were spectrophotometrically assessed just after treatments and 1, 5, and 10 days post‐treatment. PL treatments accelerated the accumulation of both total carotenoids and lycopene concentrations in tomato fruits. Nevertheless, the efficacy of PL depended on the applied spectral range. Tomato subjected to VIS + NIR treatment exhibited the greatest enhancement in total carotenoids (31 %) and lycopene (35 %) content at day 5 post‐treatment and quality attributes were not affected. Conversely, UV‐light exposure did not enhance carotenoid concentrations. These results evidenced that VIS + NIR treatments induced a faster accumulation of carotenoids without negatively affecting tomato quality attributes. Practical Application The integration of visible and near‐infrared (VIS + NIR) light filters in pulsed light (PL) processing allows enhancing the accumulation of bioactive compounds in tomato tissues in a sustainable way, which can be processed to obtain derived products (e.g., juices, purees) with health‐promoting properties. PL technology is characterized by a lack of residual compounds and the absence of applying chemicals potentially harmful to humans. Industries can attract the attention of consumers through their application, which allows offering this added value.