Use of pulsed-high hydrostatic pressure treatment to decrease patulin in apple juice

This study was aimed at reducing patulin content of apple juice using a non-thermal method, namely pulsed-high hydrostatic pressure (p-HHP). Commercially available clear apple juice was contaminated artificially with different concentrations of patulin (5, 50 and 100 ppb). Then, the samples were processed 5 min at different pressure treatments (300-500 MPa) in combination with different temperatures (30-50 degrees C) and pulses (6 pulses x 50 s and 2 pulses x 150 s). To compare the impact of pulses, single pulse of high hydrostatic pressure (HHP) treatment was also applied with the same pressure/temperature combinations and holding time. Results indicated that pressure treatment in combination with mild heat and pulses reduced the levels of patulin in clear apple juice up to 62.11%. However, reduction rates did not follow a regular pattern. p-HHP was found to be more effective in low patulin concentrations, whereas HHP was more effective for high patulin concentrations. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study using p-HHP to investigate the reduction of patulin content in apple juice.