article · International Journal of Food Properties
Pulsed light processing provides an alternative non-thermal preservation method for liquid foods. In this study, lactic-acid-fermented mulberry juice was treated with pulsed light at durations of two, four, and eight seconds at an energy level of 14.0 J/cm2. The treatment successfully reduced microbial contamination to acceptable levels while maintaining the basic physicochemical characteristics of the juice. Although treating the juice for eight seconds led to a minor reduction in anthocyanin concentration, shorter treatments of two and four seconds kept colour alterations below visually noticeable levels. In addition, increasing the treatment duration positively enhanced both volatile compounds and odour activity values. Overall, applying pulsed light preserved superior quality attributes in the fermented juice compared to conventional thermal treatment.
Conventional thermal preservation often degrades the fresh flavours, colour, and delicate nutrients of specialty beverages. Demonstrating that pulsed light can effectively decontaminate fermented fruit juice while protecting key phytochemicals and improving aroma profiles provides an alternative processing pathway. This offers food and drink producers a means to ensure product safety without compromising the sensory and nutritional qualities that consumers expect.
This work is relevant to beverage manufacturers and food-processing equipment developers interested in non-thermal pasteurisation methods for functional or fermented drinks. By preserving aroma and colour better than heat treatment, pulsed light could support premium juice production. The technology remains at an applied, laboratory-tested stage, requiring further engineering and validation to determine its viability in continuous, commercial-scale processing environments.
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Lactic-acid-fermented mulberry juice (LFMJ) was subjected to pulsed light (PL) treatment at exposure time of 2, 4, and 8 s at high insensitive pulses of 14.0 J/cm2. The effect of PL treatment on the microbial inactivation, physicochemical, phytochemical, volatile, and sensory characteristics of LFMJ was evaluated. It was found that the PL was able to reduce the microbial load to acceptable levels (1.02 ± 0.04 log10 cfu/mL) with no significant impact on the physicochemical properties of LFMJ. It was also observed that the PL treatment caused a slight decrease in anthocyanin concentration at 8 s exposure time. The color difference (∆E) of the juice treated for 2 and 4 s fell below the slightly noticeable range 0.5<ΔE<1.5 while ∆E values for the 8 s (0.55 ± 0.02) and the thermal (0.50 ± 0.02) treated samples were slightly noticeable. The volatile profile and odor activity values were positively affected by increasing the exposure time. The results depict that, under the present experimental conditions, the application of the PL resulted in a fermented juice with superior quality attributes as compared to the thermal treated juice.
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DOI: 10.1080/10942912.2018.1446024
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