Carotenoid profile modification during refrigerated storage in untreated and pasteurized orange juice and orange juice treated with high-intensity pulsed electric fields.

A comparative study was made of the evolution and modification of various carotenoids and vitamin A in untreated orange juice, pasteurized orange juice (90 degrees C, 20 s), and orange juice processed with high-intensity pulsed electric fields (HIPEF) (30 kV/cm, 100 micros), during 7 weeks of storage at 2 and 10 degrees C. The concentration of total carotenoids in the untreated juice decreased by 12.6% when the juice was pasteurized, whereas the decrease was only 6.7% when the juice was treated with HIPEF. Vitamin A was greatest in the untreated orange juice, followed by orange juice treated with HIPEF (decrease of 7.52%) and, last, pasteurized orange juice (decrease of 15.62%). The decrease in the concentrations of total carotenoids and vitamin A during storage in refrigeration was greater in the untreated orange juice and the pasteurized juice than in the juice treated with HIPEF. During storage at 10 degrees C, auroxanthin formed in the untreated juice and in the juice treated with HIPEF. This carotenoid is a degradation product of violaxanthin. The concentration of antheraxanthin decreased during storage, and it was converted into mutatoxanthin, except in the untreated and pasteurized orange juices stored at 2 degrees C.