Effect of high pressure on the vitamin B-1 and B-6 content of milk

The use of high-pressure treatments is being investigated as a promising te chnology that can lead to minimally processed foods. Low-temperature pressu risation of milk has been suggested as an alternative method for the sanita tion and shelf life extension of raw milk that can reduce the intensity of subsequent thermal processing. Vitamin B-1 and B-6 are very sensitive vitam ins that often degrades during conventional food processing methods, so the study of pressure stability of these vitamins seem to be necessary. In thi s paper we investigated the effect of high pressure (400 Mpa at a rate of 2 .5 MPa/s for 30 min) at room temperature on the vitamin B-1 and vitamin B-6 (pyridoxamine and pyridoxal) content of cow milk. Results indicate that th e studied treatment does not produce significant variations in the content of these vitamins (100% retention). Taken into account these results, it se ems that high-pressure treatment of milk is a more gentle process than conv entional procedures for extending the shelf life of milk.