Influence of high pressure homogenization and pulp reduction on residual pectinmethylesterase activity, cloud stability and acceptability of Lane Late orange juice: A study to obtain high quality orange juice with extended shelf life

Lane Late orange juice with extended shelf life (3 months at 3 °C) was obtained by high pressure homogenization (HPH) at 150 MPa at 68 °C for 15 s. Residual pectinmethylesterase (PME) inactivation level achieved was 75% but its cloudiness was maintained during storage and its acceptability undistinguishable from that of fresh juice during the assayed period. Juices with entire and reduced (50% and 25%) pulp contents were also homogenized at 150 MPa at different temperatures (63 °C and 58 °C for 15 s) to establish an appropriate shelf life of orange juices according to a desired level of cloudiness. Results showed how cloud stability of pulp reduced samples, even with a residual PME inactivation level above 90%, was not satisfactory (as in the case of entire juices homogenized out of 68 °C). The proposed methodology can easily be implanted by citrus industry to obtain high quality chilled orange juices with prolonged shelf life.