Study of chemical changes in pasteurised orange juice during shelf-life: A fingerprinting-kinetics evaluation of the volatile fraction

The current work used fingerprinting-kinetics for the first time to monitor shelf-life changes in a low-pH, pasteurised, shelf-stable product, more particular in orange juice. Orange juice samples were stored as a function of time at four different storage temperatures (20, 28, 35 and 42 degrees C). To obtain insight into chemical changes in the volatile food fraction, samples were fingerprinted with headspace GC-MS. The objectives of this work were twofold: (i) to identify major chemical changes of pasteurised orange juice during shelf-life and (ii) to study the kinetics of selected shelf-life compounds in the context of accelerated shelf-life testing (ASLT). At 20 degrees C, changes in terpenes and a decrease in aldehydes were observed. Oxides and sulphur compounds increased and esters decreased at increased storage temperatures (at 28 degrees C and above). Concerning ASLT, four volatile compounds had clear temperature and time dependent kinetics within the investigated temperature range. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.