Effect of thermosonication on bioactive compounds in watermelon juice

Freshly squeezed watermelon juice was subjected to thermosonication treatments with processing variables of temperature (25-45 °C), amplitude level (24.1-60 μm) and processing time (2-10 min) at a constant frequency of 20 kHz and pulse durations of 5 s on and 5 s off. Hunter color values (L*, a* and b*), lycopene (LC), phenolic content (TP) and ascorbic acid (AA) content were measured. Higher retention of AA and LC was observed at low treatment conditions. AA, LC & TP decreased significantly at higher amplitude levels and at the maximum processing time. A second order response function covering the range of experimental conditions investigated was obtained for each of the compounds measured. Model predictions for color parameters and bioactive compounds were closely correlated to the experimental results obtained. Prediction models were found to be significant (p < 0.05) with low standard errors and high coefficients of determination (R2). It was concluded that thermosonication significantly influences key watermelon juice quality parameters