Free-Choice Profiling of Passion Fruit Juice Processed by High Hydrostatic Pressure

High hydrostatic pressure (HHP) refers to the process that subjects food to pressures ranging from 100 MPa to 900 MPa and, in commercial systems, between 300 MPa and 700 MPa (San Martín et al., 2002). The use of HHP has been explored extensively in the food industry and related research institutions due to increased consumer demand for improved nutritional and sensory characteristics of food without loss of “fresh” taste (Rosenthal and Silva, 1997; Tewari et al., 1999; Deliza et al., 2005). Heat leads to quality deterioration in certain foods by producing undesirable changes in their sensory and nutritional characteristics due to the slow heating and cooling rates (Thakur and Nelson, 1998). At ambient temperatures, application of pressures in the range of 300–500 MPa inactivates vegetative microorganisms and reduces the activity of enzymes, combined with the retention of small molecules responsible for taste, color and many vitamins. This process yields a pasteurized product that can be stored for a considerable time at 4–6 °C (Cheftel, 1995). The non-thermal pasteurization of fruit products using HHP offers the chance of producing food of high quality, greater safety and increased shelf-life (Butz et al., 2003).