Effect of UV irradiation on enzymatic activities and physicochemical properties of apple juices from different varieties

The influence of ultraviolet irradiation (UV) on some quality attributes (colour, pH, soluble solids content, formol index, total phenolics, sugars and vitamin C) and enzymatic activities (polyphenol oxidase, peroxidase and pectinolytic enzymes) of fresh apple juice was investigated. Apple juices made from four different varieties (Golden, Starking, Fuji and King David) were irradiated during 120 min with a high-pressure mercury lamp of 400 W that emits in a range between 250 and 740 nm with a resulting incident energy of 3.88·10−7 E·min−1. The treatment was effective in the inactivation of the assayed enzymes. Polyphenol oxidase was inactivated in 100 min, while peroxidase was completely destroyed in only 15 min in all the four varieties. No variations were observed in pH, soluble solids content, formol index, total phenolics and sugars. The colour of the juice made from King David was unvariable during all the experiment. In the ones made from Golden, Starking and Fuji, UV radiation impaired some of the pigments present in the juice, either initially present or the ones formed later. This fact can be especially observed in the increase of the CIELab parameter L*, which increased from 23.2 to 24.6 in Fuji juice. The content of vitamin C in juices from Golden, Starking and Fuji slightly changed during the experiment, decreasing a 4.0% in Fuji juice, 5.7% in Golden one and 5.6% in Starking one. Meanwhile, in the juice from King David the loss was 70.0%. This significant difference can be attributed to the lack of pigmentation of this juice.