Enzyme inactivation of tomato juice by ohmic heating and its effects on physico‐chemical characteristics of concentrated tomato paste

Abstract

AbstractFresh juice of fully ripe tomato was subjected to ohmic heat (OH) treatment (90°C for 1 min) and the effectiveness of treatment was compared with conventional hot break (CT) treatment (90°C for 5 min). PG (Polygalacturonase) and PME (Pectin methyl esterase) enzyme inactivation achieved by the OH (1 min.) was similar as compared to CT of 5 min. During the kinetic analysis it was observed that the inactivation of PME & PG enzyme and degradation of ascorbic acid followed first order trend in ohmic as well as conventional treatment of tomato juice, however total color change (DE) was found to follow least‐squares non‐linear parameter algorithm behavior. Thermal treatments leads to the increased release of phyto‐chemicals from the matrix which results in a significant (p<0.01) increase in lycopene content during the early phases of the treatments. The Paste (28±0.5 °Brix) obtained after pre‐treatment was analyzed for lycopene, ascorbic acid content and apparent viscosity and color. OH Paste was found more viscous than CT treatment with maximum viscosity of 2.33×103 mPa‐s. The color of OH treated paste was bright red as compared to CT treatment, however the lycopene and ascorbic acid content of paste were found similar in OH and CT. Based on results of present study it is concluded that the ohmic treatment may be applied as an efficient alternative to the conventional method of enzyme inactivation in tomato juice.