Facilitation of metastable ice Ⅰ - ice III phase transition of liquid foods at high-pressure sub-zero temperature by perturbation

[Display omitted] •The measured phase change pressures of liquid foods were much greater than 210 MPa.•The phase transition point of the solution was affected by the solute type but not by the concentration.•The high pressure metastable phase transition was successfully promoted by implementing perturbation.•Using 20% sodium chloride solution as the perturbation source facilitated the phase transition of apple juice better.•Perturbation induced a decrease in phase transition pressure of apple juice from 305 MPa to 239 MPa. In this study, the distribution of ice Ⅰ - ice III phase transition positions and its influencing factors on various fruit juices and food model solutions under high pressure (HP) were investigated. In addition, the effect of perturbation on induction of phase change in metastable apple juice was also explored. The phase transition positions of fruit juice samples deviated far from the theoretical value (210 MPa/ –21 °C), with pressure in range of 268 ∼ 305 MPa and temperature between –31.09 °C and –37.21 °C, with the most extreme phase transition position of 305 MPa/ –37.21 °C for apple juice. The phase change position was affected by the type of solution but not by the concentration of solutions. The cooling media namely, sodium chloride (5%, 20%) and glucose solution (5%, 20%) were used as perturbation sources to stimulate the metastable apple juice by using instantaneous volume reduction during the ice Ⅰ - ice III phase transition. They successfully promoted the phase transition of apple juice, where 20% sodium chloride solution significantly (p