Kinetics of ascorbic acid degradation in fruit-based infant foods during storage

Abstract

The kinetics of ascorbic acid (AA) degradation in a fruit-based beikost product added with AA were determined after storage at 4, 25, 37 and 50°C during 4, 8, 12, 16 and 32weeks in plastic polypropylene/ethylene–vinyl alcohol vacuum packaging. It was confirmed that AA degradation followed an Arrhenius first-order kinetics, with an activation energy of 20.11±0.33kcalmol−1. No AA losses at 4°C were recorded during the entire storage period. In contrast, a time- and temperature-dependent decrease (p<0.05) in AA was observed at the other tested temperatures – the degradation rate decreasing from 50°C to 25°C, as expected. AA percentage retention at the end of storage ranged between 6.4% (50°C/16weeks) and 100.9% (4°C/32weeks).