Influence of Pulsed Electric Field and Thermal Treatments on the Quality of Blueberry Juice

Fresh blueberries were selected as trial materials. Two blueberry juice samples were sterilized using pulsed electric field and thermal treatments respectively. Their qualities were analyzed and compared by evaluating the microorganisms in the samples. The changes in the quality of fresh blueberry juice samples during storage were also assessed. The results showed that the inactivation of Escherichia coli increased as electric field strength and treatment time increased. Pulsed electric field treatments at 35 kV/cm and 82 μs reduced E. coli by 5.12 logarithms. Pulsed electric field had less effect on juice quality, but after heat treatment, the vitamin C of blueberry juice sample was reduced by 14.78%, whereas its anthocyanin content was reduced by 3.64%. After sterilization, no significant change was observed in the relative reducing sugar, total acid, phenol contents, and Brix value. The vitamin C and anthocyanins contents of the fresh blueberry juice samples treated with pulsed electric field were higher than those treated with heat sterilization.