Effect of Pulsed Electric Fields on Physical, Chemical, and Microbiological Properties of Formulated Carrot Juice

The objective of this study was to process a developed carrot juice-based beverage by pulsed electric fields (PEF) and determination of its physical, chemical, and microbiological properties before and after PEF processing. Results revealed that PEF processing did not cause any significant change in pH, titratable acidity (TA), degrees Brix, conductivity, color (L*, a*, and b*), nonenzymatic browning index (NBI), metal ion, and vitamin C concentration (p>0.05). There was a significant reduction on the total aerobic mesophilic bacteria, total mold and yeast, total enterobactericeae and Escherichia coli O157:H7 counts resulting with 4.30 +/- 0.26, 3.4 2 +/- 0.40, 4.46 +/- 0.36, and 3.57 +/- 0.32 log cfu/mL, respectively (p <= 0.01). PEF processing could be successfully used to process a carrot juice based beverage with significant amount of microbial reduction.