Mixed Juice. High Pressure Homogenization. Microbiology. Sensory.

Health care and concern for life quality have been highly increasing in the recent years. The search for food benefits and healthier foods is indicative of the current consumer behavior. The demand for fruits and vegetables has been increasingly growing in recent time. Fruits such as Acerola, Caju and Melon stand out for being rich in vitamin C and other bioactive compounds, besides being sensorially attractive. Acerola and Cashew are fruits consumed both fresh or in juices and pulps. Cashew, unlike acerola and melon, is more a regional fruit and has an astringency that is unpleasant for certain consumers. The melon is considered a fruit more consumed in natura due to its sweetness and for being very refreshing, despite being found also as pulp and juice. Considering the great demand of consumers for juices and pulps, the objective of this work is to evaluate the application of High Pressure Homogenization to a mixed tropical fruit juice composed by acerola, cashew and melon. The product preserved by such non-thermal processing aims to have better nutritional characteristics and sensory acceptance than the single fruit juices thus becoming a differentiated product on the market. Thus, this study will perform sensory, microbiological, physical-chemical analyses and vitamin C determination, seeking a better sensory and nutritionally richer juice in comparison to the thermally preserved product. The high pressure homogenization process will be evaluated by varying the following process parameters: process pressure, juice inlet temperature and time of juice recirculation inside the homogenizer. The homogenized juice will be compared with untreated, pasteurized and high hydrostatic pressure processed juice for obtaining a premium safe juice.