Development of a protein fortified fruit beverage and its quality when processed with pulsed electric field treatment

Pulsed electric field treatment (PEF), was explored to process a beverage a t 30C. A protein fortified fruit based beverage was developed using protein orange juice, guar gum, sucrose, calcium lactate, citric acid, natural fla vor and color. It was processed at low pH (3.75) using both a heat pasteuri zation and a PEF treatment. PEF treated beverage had less protein denaturat ion and lower loss of vitamin C compared with that of the heat treated beve rage. The heat treated beverage had a slightly higher apparent viscosity th an the PEF treated beverage and developed sedimentation in the container du ring storage. The PEF processed beverage maintained its natural orange juic e like color better than the heat treated beverage, which developed a sligh tly whitish color. However, the PEF treated product was less microbiologica lly stable (5 months) at refrigeration temperature compared with the hear t reated product which was stable for more than 12 months. It was concluded t hat more technological improvements are needed to process food safely by PE F technology.