Agradecimentos: This study was financed in part by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior—Brazil (CAPES, Finance Code 001), Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq, grant numbers 406820/2018-0, 301496/2019-6, and 403976/2021-9), and Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP, grant numbers 2015/50333-1, 2015/13320-9, 2018/11069-5, 2019/13465-8, and 2020/08761-4). Henrique Silvano Arruda thanks the CAPES (grant number 88887.469390/2019-00) for his postdoctoral assistantship. Eric Keven Silva thanks FAPESP (2023/01876-9) for the Young Investigator Fellowship. Mario Roberto Marostica Junior acknowledges Red Iberoamericana de Alimentos Autóctonos Subutilizados (ALSUB-CYTED, 118RT0543) Ver menos

Abstract: Fruit-based beverages have been considered excellent food vehicles for delivering prebiotics. However, the conventional thermal processes currently used to microbiologically and enzymatically stabilize these products may cause significant losses in their sensory, physicochemical, nutritional, and bioactive characteristics. Thus, in this study, we evaluate the effect of different levels of pressure (8, 15, and 21 MPa) and temperature (35 and 55 °C) on the characteristics of an inulin-enriched araticum beverage processed with non-thermal supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO2) technology. The temperature showed a significant effect on total soluble solids, pH, particle size distribution, and kinetic stability. In contrast, pressure affected only the particle size distribution. The interaction between pressure and temperature influenced the total soluble solids, pH, and particle size distribution. Color parameters, ?-potential, and glucose and fructose contents were not modified after all SC-CO2 treatments. Moreover, the SC-CO2 treatments preserved the inulin molecular structure, thus maintaining its prebiotic functionality. Overall, the SC-CO2 treatment did not alter the sensory, nutritional, and functional quality of the beverage, while improving its physical stability during storage. Therefore, non-thermal SC-CO2 treatment can be an alternative to current conventional processes for stabilizing inulin-enriched fruit-based beverages Ver menos