Effects of pulsed electric field processing on the quality and microbial inactivation of sour cherry juice

Pulsed electric fields (PEF) processing of sour cherry juice with the measurement of pH, [ordinal indicator, masculine]Brix, titratable acidity, conductivity, colour (L*, a* and b*), nonenzymatic browning index, metal ion concentration, total ascorbic acid and total antocyanin content as well as microbial inactivation were searched in the study. Applied PEF treatment parameters did not cause any significant difference on measured properties of sour cherry juice (P > 0.05). On the other hand, inactivation of Escherichia coli O157:H7, Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria monocytogenes, Erwinia carotowora, Pseudomonas syringae subs. syringae, Botrytis cinerea and Penicillum expansum significantly increased with increased electric field strength and treatment time (P [less-than or equal to] 0.05). It was revealed that PEF is a viable option to process sour cherry juice with significant amount of microbial inactivation and without adversely affecting important physical and quality parameters.