High-Pressure Processing of Sugarcane Juice (Saccharum officinarum) for Shelf-Life Extension During Ambient Storage

Abstract

Freshly extracted sugarcane juice was subjected to high-pressure treatment (HPP) at 523 MPa/50 °C/11 min and thermal treatment at 90 °C/5 min and studied for changes in physicochemical, enzymatic, nutritional qualities and microbial load during 30 days of storage at ambient temperature. Results showed that significant changes were recorded in HPP treated juice in terms of color, antioxidants and phenolic content; however, the change was substantially low when compared to thermal treated samples, thus indicating that HPP treated sugarcane juice can better retain quality parameters. During storage, the total color difference increased significantly in both HPP and TP samples. HPP of sugarcane juice resulted in inactivation of 64% of polyphenol oxidase and 58% of peroxidase enzyme, whereas the corresponding values recorded for thermal were 85% and 75%, respectively. The residual activity of these enzymes decreased during storage. The loss in ascorbic acid was observed to be 11% in HPP treated samples, whereas it was 25% in TP samples. The vegetative microorganism present in the juice was below the detection limit (1 log CFU/mL) up to 25 days. The study indicated that the shelf-life of HPP and TP samples stored at 25 °C was estimated to be 25 and 10 days, respectively, based on sensory qualities, ascorbic acid retention and total color difference. Thus, HPP has a potential to develop packed ready-to-drink sugarcane juice and enhances for its commercialization.