QUALITY EVALUATION OF PROCESSED STRAWBERRY FRUITS

Several strawberry products: whole fruits, strawberry purees (5°Brix) and strawberry concentrates (≥21°Brix), submitted to different processing temperatures (fresh non-pasteurized, enzymatically inactivated and pasteurized) have been characterized in terms of their organoleptic quality.
Quality parameters such as color (L, a, b values, Hue, Chroma, browning index, and anthocyanin content), taste (total soluble solids, acidity, sugars and organic acids profile), nutritional value (vitamin C and polyphenols contents) and aroma (volatile compounds) have been analyzed during 12 months of storage at 2°C and -18°C. Although quality changes showed quite different rates in whole fruits, purees, and concentrates, losses of anthocyanins and vitamin C were the most relevant changes observed during storage.
In general, storage temperature had a greater effect on quality maintenance than processing temperature, particularly for anthocyanins and vitamin C contents.
Thus, frozen non-pasteurized strawberry purees had significantly higher content of anthocyanins and vitamin C than refrigerated products, either previously submitted to thermal enzymatic inactivation and/or pasteurization, which lose 80% vitamin C and 40% anthocyanins after 3 months of storage.
On the other hand, the quality standards of the fruits before processing seem to be critical for quality maintenance of the strawberry products.

VI International Strawberry Symposium

A.M. León, P. Torres, C. Sanz, A.G. Pérez

strawberry, organoleptic quality, vitamin C, anthocyanins, processing temperature, storage

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2009.842.207