Nutritional, Physicochemical and Microbial Quality of Ultrasound-Treated Apple-Carrot Juice Blends

Three different apple-carrot juice blends (60:40, 75:25 and 90:10, v/v) were prepared and treated with ultrasound with comparison to the conventional thermal pasteurization. Total aerobic viable count (TAC) were significantly lower in juice blends with lower pH (apple-carrot ratio of 90:10, v/v) than the blends with higher pH after one month storage at 4 ̊C. TAC were similar in ultrasound-treated and thermal pasteurized juice blends. Changes of turbidity of juice during storage followed the same pattern of TAC. Other juice quality parameters such as color, pH, titratable acid, total soluble solids, antioxidant capacity and beta-carotene did not change significantly during the storage period. The results suggest that ultrasound treatment has a potential to use as an alternative non-thermal technique for traditional thermal pasteurization process for maintaining the quality of beverages prepared from fruit and vegetable juices.