Gentle Sterilization of Carrot-Based Purees by High-Pressure Thermal Sterilization and Ohmic Heating and Influence on Food Processing Contaminants and Quality Attributes.

Maximilian Gratz,Beverly Belkova,Lucie Chytilova,Robert Sevenich,Thomas Hoppe,Cornelia Rauh,Henry Jaeger,Maria Filatova,Michal Stupak,Jana Hajslova,Felix Schottroff,Nevena Vlaskovic

doi:10.3389/fnut.2021.643837

Abstract

Pressure-enhanced sterilization (PES) and ohmic heating (OH) are two emerging sterilization techniques, currently lacking implementation in the food industry. However, both technologies offer significant benefits in terms of spore inactivation using reduced thermal intensity in food products, as well as minimized effects on sensory and nutritional profiles. In this study, PES and OH were tested based on possible food safety process windows in comparison to thermal retorting, to optimize the food quality of carrot-based purees. The following parameters related to food quality were tested: texture, carotenoid content, color, and detectable amount of food processing contaminants (FPC) formed. Application of the innovative sterilization techniques resulted in a better retention of color, texture, and carotenoids (for PES) as well as a reduced formation of food processing contaminants. Importantly, a significant reduction in the formation of furan and its derivates was observed, compared to the retorted samples. Hence, both sterilization technologies showed promising results in the mitigation of potential toxic processing contaminants and retention of quality attributes.

Highlights

Consumers increasingly demand high-quality foods with a longer shelf life and optimized nutritional attributes
Within high-pressure thermal sterilization (HPTS), there are currently two processes that have been accepted by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA): First is the pressure-assisted thermal sterilization (PATS) [12]
pressure-enhanced sterilization (PES) samples were sterilized by p, T, t combinations that equaled a 12 log10 inactivation of B. amyloliquefaciens (Supplementary Material 2.1)

Summary

Introduction

Consumers increasingly demand high-quality foods with a longer shelf life and optimized nutritional attributes. The process currently used in the food industry to achieve a sterile product for low-acid foods is retorting, where applied temperature time profiles can have a negative impact on the nutritional value of the foods [1]. Within HPTS, there are currently two processes that have been accepted by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA): First is the pressure-assisted thermal sterilization (PATS) [12]. Pressure ≥600 MPa is used for rapid heating purposes only, the synergistic effect of p, T is neglected, only equivalent treatment conditions to thermal retorting are valid, and the PATS process is listed as a thermal process. In 2015, pressure-enhanced sterilization (PES) was accepted by the FDA, where temperatures below 121.1◦C at 600 MPa can be applied [13]. PES is a possible process window within the pressure (>600 MPa), temperature (110–120◦C), and time (1–10 min) domain of HPTS

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