Effects of pre-freezing, puree content and pasteurisation regime on colour stability of strawberry nectar made from puree

BACKGROUND: Heat treatment during processing of strawberry products has been proposed to negatively affect colour stability. Moreover, the role of enzymes with respect to colour stability is ambiguous when consulting the existing literature. The aim of the present study was to investigate the impact of various processing parameters (pre-freezing, puree content, pasteurisation temperature and heating time) on the colour stability and anthocyanin monomer and L-ascorbic acid contents of strawberry nectars made from puree. In addition, the effect of different enzyme activities on colour stability during storage of strawberry nectars was investigated. RESULTS: Pre-freezing of strawberries before processing had a significant positive effect on the colour stability of nectars made from puree. No significant effect on colour stability was found for higher puree contents. Increasing both the pasteurisation temperature and the heating time had a significant positive effect on colour stability. Results showed that colour degradation during storage was mainly due to residual enzyme activities. The shelf-life of strawberry nectar could be extended about fivefold by adding an enzyme inhibitor. CONCLUSION: The colour stability of strawberry nectar made from fresh puree may be improved to some extent by an appropriate pasteurisation regime. Enzymes play an important role in colour degradation during storage of the nectar. Inactivation of these enzyme activities, however, could not be achieved even after a heat treatment at 90 °C for 60 min. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry