A suitable option for exploiting kiwifruit is to develop a processed product. High pressure treatment (HPT) was
applied to kiwi purée and chill-stored for two months. Measurements during storage were: °Brix, pH, color, vitamin
C, citric and malic acids, glucose, fructose, sucrose, microbial levels and sensory tests. HPT reduced the initial
microbial load by 4 log; pH and °Brixwere constant throughout storage and unaffected by pressurization. Just
after the treatment, sugars and organic acids in the pressurized samples decreased by around 40 and 50%, and the
color parameter a* increased by 50%. However, the levels remained almost constant and were similar in the
unprocessed samples after five storage days. Similarly, the sensory assays showed significant differences between
the treated and untreated kiwi purées during the initial storage days, but after one storage week the differences
decreased. HPT appears to be a good alternative for processing kiwi purée.
Industrial relevance: Pasteurization of fruit purées with a high pressure treatment (HPT) has received considerable
attention during recent years and will become a proper industrial application in the future for exploiting
kiwi surplus production. The overall quality data obtained in this work demonstrate that high pressure processing
followed by chilled storage can extend the shelf-life of kiwi purée while maintaining its overall quality.
Sensory measurements made by panelists and consumers are an important tool for deciding on the effectiveness
of pressurization for certain processed fruit product.