Light‐emitting diode assisted non‐thermal pasteurization of Punica granatum L. juice

Abstract

The growing potential of ready-to-consume products is an immediate consequence of the need and want for convenient foods by most consumers. The fast-changing lifestyle and an increase in health-conscious eating habits have constantly been boosting these trends. Perishable goods like fruits and vegetables have been an indisputable source of vital nutrients like vitamins and minerals, both micro and macro. The consumption of fruits and fruit products like beverage concentrates, juices, and purees has increased several folds for these reasons and has been perceived as one of the most rapidly growing agro-economy (Gil et al., 2000;Jiménez-Sánchez et al., 2017). Preservation of these perishable goods, as whole or in processed form, has been a growing concern for the agro-producers.The high water activity and low shelf-life of these commodities make them highly prone to contamination and spoilage (Ghate et al., 2016). Several processing techniques have been traditionally employed to improve the shelf-stability of these products. Pasteurization has been utilized as the most commonly used preservation technique for the safe storage of fruit beverages. Thermal processing has been the most widely used method for pasteurization of fruit juices, which has successfully attained a multi-log reduction of pathogenic bacteria through a time-temperature combination (Rupasinghe & Yu, 2012). However, several recent studies have stated that the thermal pasteurization methods have caused quality degrading changes in the product like loss of phenolic compounds, change in coloration, loss of organoleptic properties, etc. (Mahendran et al., 2019).Along with the deterioration of the sensory properties, the thermal treatments can also affect the heat-liable nutrients present in the fruit juices. These reasons have increased the need to utilize novel