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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania » Eastern Regional Research Center » Microbial and Chemical Food Safety » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #300069
Title: Combination of pulsed electric field processing with antimicrobial bottle for extending microbiological shelf-life of pomegranate juice

Author
item Jin, Zhonglin
item GUO, MINGMING - Jiangnan University
item YANG, RUIJIN - Jiangnan University

Submitted to: International Journal of Food Science and Technology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/6/2014
Publication Date: 12/1/2014
Citation: Jin, Z.T., Guo, M., Yang, R. 2014. Combination of pulsed electric field processing with antimicrobial bottle for extending microbiological shelf-life of pomegranate juice. International Journal of Food Science and Technology. 26:153-158.

Interpretive Summary: The use of antimicrobial bottle is an innovate approach to extending shelf-life and enhancing safety of liquid foods. In this study, 100% pomegranate juice was processed in bench scale and commercial scale pulsed electrical field (PEF) systems and was packaged in antimicrobial-coated bottles and stored for 84 days at 4 degree C. The results demonstrated that the combination of antimicrobial packaging and PEF processing significantly extended the microbiological shelf-life of pomegranate juice.

Technical Abstract: Pomegranate juice was processed using bench top (7.2 L/h) and pilot scale (100 L/h) continuous pulsed electric field (PEF) processing systems. The PEF parameters were 35 kV/cm field strength for both systems, 72 us total treatment time for bench top scale and 281 us for pilot scale tests. Treated juice was packaged in PET bottles or PET bottles coated with potassium sorbate and sodium benzoate, and stored at 4C for 84 days. Samples were assessed every 7 days for total aerobic bacteria and yeast and mold. Untreated juice had less than one week of shelf-life, while untreated juices in antimicrobial bottles had 56 days. Juices treated with PEF alone had a shelf-life of 21 days (bench scale) and over 84 days (pilot scale). Juices treated with the combination of PEF+antimicrobial bottles had a shelf-life over 84 days for both scale tests, which significantly extended the microbiological shelf-life of pomegranate juice.