The natural color of strawberries and their products easily fades or deteriorates during processing and
storage. Temperature, pH, and light are common factors that affect the color stability of strawberry juice
(SJ). Clarified SJ was prepared from fresh fruits and diluted with purified water at a ratio of 1:3. The
absorbance at 510 nm (Ab510) and the L* and a* values of SJ under different processing or storage conditions
were determined to describe the attributes and stability of juice color. SJ color was highly sensitive
to thermal treatment, pH and sunlight exposure. Storage temperature also significantly affected the
SJ color. SJ could achieve color stability by adjusting pH to 3.0 or below, heating at 80 C or below for
20 min or less if thermal treatment is necessary, packing with opaque materials, and then storing at 2 C
e4 C. Ab510 positively correlated with a* under most conditions, except at different pH values. a* could
be used as a direct indicator that describes SJ color