Impact of non-thermal pasteurization technologies on vitamin B12 content in milk

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Limited studies have reported on the effect of non-thermal processing technologies on vitamin B12, an essential vitamin that does not occur in many plant based foods. In this study, raw milk was treated by HHP (300 to 600 MPa, 5 min), PEF (16 kV/cm, 29 to 51 kJ/L), or UV-C (2 to 18 mJ/cm2). The results showed that PEF and HHP pasteurization preserved the initial content of B12 in milk while UV-C caused 10% loss. HHP at 600 MPa (5 min) reduced the total number of microorganisms, similar to conventional pasteurization levels, without impact on vitamin B12 concentration. PEF treatment at 43 kJ/L did not affect vitamin B12 concentration, and provided a 0.9 log10 CFU/mL reduction above the reference for pasteurization. While UV-C caused no microbial reduction with the experimental setup used, but even so, a 10% reduction in vitamin B12 concentration occurred at the highest UV-C dose (18 mJ/cm2). Industrial relevance: Our study demonstrated differences in the sensitivity of vitamin B12 to pressure, electric field, and UV-C light, that should be taken into account to preserve this vitamin in milk.

Original languageEnglish
Article number103303
JournalInnovative Food Science and Emerging Technologies
Volume84
Number of pages9
ISSN1466-8564
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2023

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 Elsevier Ltd

    Research areas

  • High hydrostatic pressure, Milk processing, Pulsed electric field, UV-C, Vitamin B

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