Overall quality properties in pressurized kiwi purée: Microbial, physicochemical, nutritive and sensory tests during refrigerated storage

•High pressure treatment (HPT): adequate technology to market kiwi purée from surplus fruit production•Global quality data included physicochemical, microbial, nutritive and sensory assays.•Kiwi purée was almost unaffected by HPT, especially after 7 storage days at 4 °C.•HPT avoided microbial growth in kiwi purée, under chilled storage after 70 days.•Microbial and sensory test by panel/consumers should be considered decisive to market the product.

A suitable option for exploiting kiwifruit is to develop a processed product. High pressure treatment (HPT) was applied to kiwi purée and chill-stored for two months. Measurements during storage were: °Brix, pH, color, vitamin C, citric and malic acids, glucose, fructose, sucrose, microbial levels and sensory tests. HPT reduced the initial microbial load by 4 log; pH and °Brix were constant throughout storage and unaffected by pressurization. Just after the treatment, sugars and organic acids in the pressurized samples decreased by around 40 and 50%, and the color parameter a* increased by 50%. However, the levels remained almost constant and were similar in the unprocessed samples after five storage days. Similarly, the sensory assays showed significant differences between the treated and untreated kiwi purées during the initial storage days, but after one storage week the differences decreased. HPT appears to be a good alternative for processing kiwi purée.Industrial relevancePasteurization of fruit purées with a high pressure treatment (HPT) has received considerable attention during recent years and will become a proper industrial application in the future for exploiting kiwi surplus production. The overall quality data obtained in this work demonstrate that high pressure processing followed by chilled storage can extend the shelf-life of kiwi purée while maintaining its overall quality. Sensory measurements made by panelists and consumers are an important tool for deciding on the effectiveness of pressurization for certain processed fruit product.