ORIGINAL PAPER Application of Freezing and Thawing to Carrot (Daucus carota L.) Juice Extraction Rafał Nadulski & Józef Grochowicz & Paweł Sobczak & Zbigniew Kobus & Marian Panasiewicz & Kazimierz Zawiślak & Jacek Mazur & Agnieszka Starek & Wioletta Żukiewicz-Sobczak Received: 20 March 2014 /Accepted: 25 August 2014 /Published online: 10 September 2014 # Springer Science+Business Media New York 2014 Abstract This paper presents a study of the effects of freezing and thawing carrot pulp and pomace on the efficiency of the pressing process and the quality of juice. In this study, various combinations of pretreatment strategies were used based on freezing and thawing the carrot pulp and pomace before pressing. The pressing process for pulp and pomace was carried out using a laboratory press with a perforated base. The juice obtained as a result of freezing and thawing the carrot pulp and pomace was characterized by a higher sugar content (°Brix) and a slightly lower dynamic viscosity. Fur- thermore, the study showed the impact of pretreatment on the chemical composition of the juice produced. On the basis of energy use and quality indicators of the resultant carrot juice (viscosity, pH, selected minerals, sugars, total carotenoid con- tent, and vitamin C), a recommended solution is to press the pulp directly after grinding the carrots and then to press the pomace again after freezing and thawing. The proposed meth- od for juice production using freezing and thawing allows a reduction in pomace quantity and the use of its valuable nutrients. Keywords Carrot . Juice . Freezing . Pressing . Efficiency . Quality Introduction Fruit and vegetables are an important ingredient of a balanced diet (Wootton-Beard and Ryan 2011). The carrot (Daucus carota L.) is a source of a number of compounds that have documented antioxidant, antimicrobial, antiviral, anti-inflam- matory, anti-allergenic, and even anti-cancer properties (Abbey et al. 1995; Cortés et al. 2005; Sharma et al. 2012). The short growing time caused by the conditions of a moder- ate climate leads to an unequal availability of carrot juice during the year. Carrots can be processed into many ready- made products, such as juices, concentrates, infant foods, powdered soups, tinned foods, and frozen foods (Klaiber et al. 2005; Sharma et al. 2012). The main nutritional advan- tages of products made from carrots are related to their low energy value, high content of carotenoids, vitamins (C, B 1 ,B 2 , B 6 ,B 7 , E, K, and PP), the presence of easily assimilated sugars (sucrose, fructose, and glucose), minerals (calcium, potassi- um, magnesium, and iron), and other biologically active in- gredients (Yen et al. 2007; Quitao-Teixeira et al. 2009; Barański et al. 2010). Industrial methods for processing fruit and vegetables may significantly change their nutritional properties (Anese et al. 1999; Marx et al. 2003; Rosenthal and Jansky 2008; Rababah et al. 2011) through losing several valuable nutrients and their by-products. Approximately 50 % of carotenoids remain in the pomace (residue after pressing) during the industrial pro- duction of carrot juice (Sharma et al. 2012); therefore, methods of carrot processing need to be developed that min- imize the negative impact of processing on its nutritional properties (Boekel Von and Jongen 1997; Ma et al. 2013). Consumers expect manufacturers not only to maintain the nutritional properties of a product, but also to improve them (Ioannou et al. 2012). The most common method for obtaining juice from fruit and vegetables is pressing, which consists of creating pressure R. Nadulski (*) : P. Sobczak : Z. Kobus : M. Panasiewicz : K. Zawiślak : J. Mazur : A. Starek Department of Food Engineering and Machines, University of Life Sciences, Doświadczalna 44, 20-236 Lublin, Poland e-mail: rafal.nadulski@up.lublin.pl J. Grochowicz The University of Vincent Pol in Lublin, Choiny 2, 20-813 Lublin, Poland W. Żukiewicz-Sobczak Department of Allergology and Environmental Hazards, Institute of Rural Health, 20-090 Lublin, Poland Food Bioprocess Technol (2015) 8:218–227 DOI 10.1007/s11947-014-1395-6