Comparison of antimicrobial treatments for citrus juices.

Abstract

Abstract Citrus juices are the most popular fruit juices, orange being the predominant processed juice by the beverage industry worldwide. Although thermal processing remains the most widely employed pasteurization technique, there is growing interest in the development of alternative techniques that minimize changes in organoleptic and nutritional properties. Ohmic heating, an electromagnetic technique, appears to be promising and effective in juice processing. Novel non-thermal techniques offering potential include high hydrostatic pressure (HHP), high-intensity pulsed electric fields (HIPEF), radio frequency electric fields (RFEF), ultrasound, ultraviolet (UV) radiation, and ozonation, among others. Antimicrobial efficiencies of thermal and non-thermal processes applied alone or in combination with conventional and novel non-thermal technologies to control pathogenic micro-organisms in orange juice are discussed.