Integrated science-based approach to study quality changes of shelf-stable food products during storage: A proof of concept on orange and mango juices

In the study of shelf-stable orange and mango juices, the (combined) analytical targeted and untargeted fingerprinting approach proved to be a useful approach for identifying major-quality related chemical changes and was able to select shelf-life markers (i.e. quality parameters with a clearly observable time- (and temperature-) dependent change). In studying the kinetics of change of the monitored quality attributes, it is tempting to think that the fastest reactions will determine the shelf-life of a shelf-stable product. However, consumer acceptance through sensory evaluation plays also an important role in determining the acceptability limit and therefore the best before date. The integrated science-based approach put forward can be used to investigate quality changes of a wide range of shelf-stable products during storage.