Impact of High‐Intensity Pulsed Electric Fields or Thermal Treatment on the Quality Attributes of Date Juice through Storage

The effects of high‐intensity pulsed electric fields (HIPEF) processing (35 kV/cm for 1,000 µs using pulses of 4 µs pulses at 100 Hz in bipolar mode) or thermal treatment (90C for 60 s) on total phenols composition, color parameters, 5‐(Hydroxymethyl)furfural (HMF), pH, soluble solids and turbidity were assessed in date juice for five weeks under refrigeration storage (4–5C), having as reference the untreated date juice. After processing, HIPEF treated date juice exhibited lower HMF concentration than pasteurized one. HIPEF treatment did not affect color parameters with respect to other date juices after treatments. Turbidity, soluble solids and pH were more preserved in HIPEF treated date juice compared to heated one after processing and along storage. The content of total phenols increased after HIPEF compared to untreated juice. The HIPEF contributed to the maintain of quality attributes of date juice along refrigeration storage. This process was much better than heat. Practical Applications The preservation of foods such as fruit juices, is a primarily interest of food industry. The nonthermal processes of food preservation as HIPEF become more appreciated. HIPEF technology is an innovation because the majority of foods are thermally processed between 60C and 140C, during a time varying from some seconds to some minutes. These types of processing (pasteurization, sterilization, flash pasteurization) cause alterations of the food quality (loss of taste, color and nutriments). But, the demand of consumer is to have a food of high quality. Thus, the use of HIPEF as alternative to thermal process could preserve quality attributes of juice after treatment and through storage.