Whole tomato juice produced by a novel industrial-scale microfluidizer: Effect on physical properties and in vitro lycopene bioaccessibility

Abstract

Whole tomato juice (WTJ) was prepared using a novel “industrial-scale microfluidizer system” (ISMS). The impacts of ISMS processing pressure (0–120 MPa) on the physicochemical properties and bioaccessibility of tomato juice were investigated. Increasing the processing pressure reduced the mean particle diameter (D[4,3]) of the tomato juice from 151 to 30 μm, which was mainly attributed to degradation of the tomato plant cell structures by the strong disruptive forces generated by microfluidizer. Pulp sedimentation rate, precipitation weight ratio, and turbidity measurements showed that the physical stability of the tomato juice increased with increasing pressure. Indeed, ISMS-treated tomato juice remained stable for 28 days without evidence of visible layering. The lycopene concentration in the tomato juice increased from 25.0 to 28.2 μg/mL and the lycopene bioaccessibility increased from 9.0% to 14.1% after ISMS treatment. These results suggest that ISMS can improve the physical stability and nutritive value of commercial tomato juice products.