Supercritical carbon dioxide pasteurization of coconut water: a sport drink with a high vitaminic and nutritional content

Supercritical carbon dioxide was applied for the pasteurization of coconut water to guarantee its microbial stability and preserve its sensory and nutritional quality attributes. A multi-batch apparatus was used to test supercritical carbon dioxide feasibility to inactivate the natural microbial flora of coconut water as a function of pressure (80 and 120 bar), temperature (22, 30, 35, 40 and 45°C) and time (from 5 to 60 min). The study indicated that 120 bar, 40°C, 30 min were the optimal process conditions to induce 5 Log reductions of mesophilic microorganisms, lactic acid bacteria, yeasts and molds and 7 Log of total coliforms. A deep chemical/physical and sensory char-acterization was also performed to investigate the impact of the treat-ment on the quality traits of fresh coconut water. To complete the study, a thermally pasteurized (90°C for 1 minute) coconut water was also considered in order to compare the impact of the thermal and non-thermal processes