Effect of Ohmic Heating on Sensory, Physicochemical, and Microbiological Properties of "Aguamiel" of Agave salmiana.

The use of ohmic heating (OH) processing technologies in beverages might provide a higher quality value to the final product; consumers tended to prefer more natural products with minimum preservative substances. The aim of this work was to evaluate the effect of OH over the presence of microorganisms in "aguamiel" as well as to study the effects on physicochemical analysis like total sugars, soluble solids, electric conductivity pH, and color. The results showed that the conductivity of "aguamiel" was 0.374 s/m, this as temperature increased, conductivity rose as well. During OH a bubbling was observed when reaching 70 °C due to the generation of electrochemical reactions during the OH process. OH had a significant effect in the reduction of E. coli, yeast, and lactobacillus compared to conventional pasteurization, reaching optimal conditions for its total inactivation. Regarding its physicochemical properties, both treatments, conventional pasteurization and OH, did not show negative changes in aguamiel, demonstrating that OH technology can be a feasible option as a pasteurization technique. In conclusion it is important to notice that negative changes were not found in quality, color and sugars of "aguamiel". Therefore, ohmic heating can be an option to replace traditional methods used for pasteurization.