Quality and Stability Equivalence of High Pressure and/or Thermal Treatments in Peach-Strawberry Puree. A Multicriteria Study.

A bottom-up approach identifying equivalent effects of high-pressure processing (HPP-600 MPa, 20 °C, 10 min), thermal treatment (TT-70 °C, 15 min) and high pressure-mild thermal processing (HPMT-600 MPa, 50 °C, 10 min) on quality and stability of peach-strawberry puree was applied during refrigerated storage. TT and HPP ensured 3-log aerobic bacteria inactivation at first, while HPMT reduction was below the detection limit. After 21 days all samples had equivalent microbiological stability. A 2.6-fold increase in the residual activity of PPO and POD was found in the HPP sample compared to TT and HPMT samples (1st day); after 21 days PPO, POD and TPC were equivalent for TT and HPP peach-strawberry purees. Equivalent volatile profile and rheology behavior was observed after 21 days of all samples' storage. Meanwhile, the color of the HPP, TT and HMPT samples remained significantly different ( < 0.05) throughout the whole storage period, with the lowest browning index registered for HPP samples.