This work presents a study regarding total vitamin C and
ascorbic acid degradation in acerola pulp during thermal treatment
by ohmic and conventional heating. For the ohmic heating technology,
the ascorbic acid degradation ranged from 3.08 to 10.63%.
The applied voltage and the solids content of the pulp significantly
influenced the degradation of the compounds. The voltage gradient
had a positive effect, i.e., an increase in the voltage gradient lead to
an increase in the AA degradation. The total vitamin C degradation
ranged from 2.0 to 5.1%. The vitamin C degradation was influenced
only by the linear and the quadratic effects of the voltage.
Ohmic heating, when performed with low voltage gradients,
exhibited vitamin C and ascorbic acid degradation similar to
conventional heating. However, high voltage gradients increased
the degradation of both vitamin C and ascorbic acid. This behavior
may be explained by the increase of electrochemical reactions
when using high voltage gradients, which can adversely affect the
ascorbic acid and catalyze the degradation pathways in the presence
of oxygen.