High pressure homogenization (HPH) is a non-thermal technology that has been widely studied as a partial
or total substitute for the thermal processing of food. Although microbial inactivation has been
widely studied, there are only a few works in the literature reporting the physicochemical changes
caused in fruit products due to HPH, especially those regarding the rheological properties. The present
work evaluated the effect of HPH (up to 150 MPa) on the time-dependent and steady-state shear rheological
properties of tomato juice. HPH reduced the mean particle diameter and particle size distribution
(PSD), and increased its consistency and thixotropy. The rheological results were in accordance with the
PSD observed. The rheological properties of the juice were evaluated by the Herschel–Bulkley and Falguera–
Ibarz models (steady-state shear) and Figoni–Shoemaker and Weltman models (time-dependent).
The parameters of these equations were modelled as a function of the homogenization pressure. The
models obtained described the experimental values well, and contributed to future studies on product
and process development.