Journal of Agricultural Science and Technology B 9 (2019) 365-372 doi: 10.17265/2161-6264/2019.06.001 Review on Non-thermal Technologies for the Preservation of Fruit Juices Erandya Jayawardena, Mihiri Vanniarachchi and Jagath Wansapala Department of Food Science and Technology, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Gangodawila, Nugegoda 10250, Sri Lanka Abstract: Liquid food industries use different preservation methods to extend the shelf life of products by reducing both enzymatic and microorganism activities. Emerging non-thermal pasteurization techniques are applied in order to avoid thermal processes maintaining the microbial safety and quality of liquid foods. Non-thermal preservation technologies used in the liquid food industry include high-pressure processing (HPP), pulsed electric field (PEF), ultraviolet light (UV-C) and ultra-sonication (US). HPP is a method to target specific organisms by applying a pressure range of 100-1,000 MPa. PEF uses short pulses of a strong electric field applied to a flowing liquid food which affects the whole cell membrane of the organism. UV-C treatment at 253.7 nm has been proven to be appropriate for maintaining liquid quality and minimal deterioration of nutrients. US is applied to liquid foods in a lower frequency range of 20-100 kHz and a higher sound intensity of 10-1,000 W/cm 2 to the breakdown of cells. According to scientific literature, those methods have been applied to fruit juices like orange, apple, pear, coconut water, etc. Most of the non-thermal methods achieved the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requirement of a 5-log reduction of microorganisms without deteriorating the sensory and nutritional attributes of fruit juices. Some of these methods have already been commercialized and others are still in a pilot scale. This study gives a comprehensive overview of published literature regarding the potential for using non-thermal pasteurization methods to extend the shelf life of different fruit juices with minimal deterioration of nutritional and sensory quality. Key words: Non-thermal pasteurization, high-pressure process, pulsed electric field, UV-C light, ultrasound. 1. Introduction There is growing consumer demand for fresh, unpasteurized, nutritionally sound and microbiologically safe liquid beverages with extended shelf life. But beverages with high water content are a good transportation system for spoilage microorganisms and a good source for enzymatic activities [1]. Liquid food industries use different preservation methods to extend the shelf life and to assure that products will be microbiologically safe by inactivating enzymatic and microorganism activities. A good preservation technology must maintain the quality of the product while providing convenient shelf life as well as ensuring the preservation of original flavor and nutritional properties of products. The oldest and best developed preservation method is Corresponding author: Erandya Jayawardena, Ph.D. candidate, research field: food science and technology. thermal pasteurization or sterilization technique [2, 3]. In thermal operation, low temperature long time (LTLT) and high temperature short time (HTST) treatments are the most commonly used techniques that have the tendency to induce permanent changes to the nutritional and sensory characteristics of the food. Therefore, today in liquid food industry there is a need to find out a suitable pasteurization method that considerably reduces damage to nutrients and sensory quality of the product [4]. Emerging non-thermal pasteurization methods are applied as substitutions to conventional thermal processes in order to maintain the quality of the product. However, these non-thermal methods should also minimize the microbial content to a safe level so that products can be safe and stable before introducing them to consumers [5]. Advantages of non-thermal processes are low operational temperature, low energy utilization, the D DAVID PUBLISHING