Abstract
Currently baby food is sterilized using retort processing that gives an extended shelf life. However, this type of heat processing leads to reduction of organoleptic and nutrition value. Alternatively, the combination of pressure and heat could be used to achieve sterilization at reduced temperatures. This study investigates the potential of pressure-assisted thermal sterilization (PATS) technology for baby food sterilization. Here, baby food (apple puree), inoculated with Bacillus subtilis spores was treated using PATS at different operating temperatures, pressures and times and was compared with thermal only treatment. The results revealed that the decimal reduction time of B. subtilis in PATS treatment was lower than that of thermal only treatment. At a similar spore inactivation, the retention of ascorbic acid of PATS-treated sample was higher than that of thermally treated sample. The results indicated that PATS could be a potential technology for baby food processing while minimizing quality deterioration.