Commercial‐Scale Pulsed Electric Field Processing of Orange Juice

Effects of commercial‐scale pulsed electric field (PEF) processing on the microbial stability, ascorbic acid, flavor compounds, color, Brix, pH, and sensory properties of orange juice were studied and compared with those of thermal processing. Freshly squeezed orange juice was thermally processed at 90 °C for 90 s or processed by PEF at 40 kV/cm for 97 ms. Both thermally processed and PEF‐processed juices showed microbial shelf life at 4 °C for 196 d. PEF‐processed juice retained more ascorbic acid, flavor, and color than thermally processed juice (P<0.05). Sensory evaluation of texture, flavor, and overall acceptability were ranked highest for control juice, followed by PEF‐processed juice and then by thermally processed juice (P<0.01).