Effect of thermosonication and thermal treatments on antidiabetic, antihypertensive, mineral elements and in vitro bioaccessibility of bioactive compounds in freshly squeezed pomegranate juice

Pomegranate fruit and its products have been recognized as 'miracle fruit' due to their nutritional content, organoleptic properties and health benefits. There is no detailed study about the optimization of thermosonication (TS) conditions for the popular drink, freshly squeezed pomegranate juice. Bioactive components in freshly squeezed pomegranate juice treated with thermosonication were increased using the response surface method (RSM) and artificial neural network (ANN). ANN had higher correlation than RSM and as a result of optimization, thermosonication treatment conditions of 49.50 °C, 10.5 min and 72.50% amplitude were determined.Thermosonication-treated pomegranate juice (TS-PJ) had higher antidiabetic and antihypertensive effects than thermal pasteurized pomegranate juice (P-PJ). TS did not affect physicochemical parameters (p > 0.05). Both treatments reduced the microbial load after treatment and TS-PJ was superior in terms of sensory attributes. As a result of thermosonication treatment, increases in Ca, Fe and Na elements were detected. For in vitro simulated gastrointestinal medium TS-PJ better preserved the bioavailability of bioactive compounds. The results obtained may be useful for the industrial production of thermosonication-treated pomegranate juice. Graphical abstract