The effects of ultra-high hydrostatic pressure (UHP) treatments on som
e physicochemical, microbiological and sensory properties of single-st
rength natural tomato juice were evaluated using response surface meth
ods. Application of graphical optimization techniques showed that UHP
processing yields products which, beside being microbiologically stabl
e, have improved viscosity and colour properties in comparison with th
eir conventional heat-processed counterparts. Enzyme inactivation was
found to be less than that caused by the conventional hot-break treatm
ent. During UHP processing, very high n-hexanal and cis-3-hexenal conc
entrations were formed from free fatty acid oxidation.