Whey acerola-flavoured drink submitted ohmic heating processing: Is there an optimal combination of the operational parameters?

Whey acerola-flavoured drink was treated using ohmic heating (OH) at 65°C for 30min to evaluate different frequencies (10, 100 and 1000Hz with 25V) and voltages (45, 60 and 80V at 60Hz) and by conventional heating (CH) with the same temperature profile (65°C/30min). Rheology parameters, color changes (h°, C∗, ΔE) microstructure (optical microscopy), and ascorbic acid (AA) degradation kinetics were performed. AA degradation rates ranged from 1.7 to 29.3% and from 2.8 to 24.8% for OH and CH, respectively. The beverages treated with both processes exhibited a pseudo-plastic behavior (n<1), higher saturation (C∗), lesser reddish color (h°), and higher color variations (ΔE∗). In microstructure analysis, OH (1000Hz-25V and 80V-60Hz) was able to rupture the cell structure. The best results were observed at low frequencies and voltage OH processes on whey acerola-flavoured drinks should be performed at low frequencies and voltages (≤100Hz and 45V), an alternating current (A/C). However, despite the use of inert electrodes, the existence of corrosion was not evaluated, being an important information to be investigated.