Polyacetylene levels in carrot juice, effect of pH and thermal processing

This research focuses on the study of polyacetylenes in carrot juice and their response to pH, storage and thermal processing conditions. Falcarindiol-3-acetate (FaDOAc) and falcarinol (FaOH) were in fresh carrot juice at concentrations of 73 and 233 μg/L, respectively. Reducing the pH of the raw carrot juice from its natural pH 6.13 to pH 3.5 resulted in 2 and 5 fold better extraction of FaDOAc and FaOH respectively in comparison to a control sample (pH 6.13). Polyacetylenes were retained better in acidified juices and cold storage temperatures (4 °C) for first week of storage with respect to untreated juices. An increase in FaDOAc and FaOH of 10- and 16-fold, respectively, as compared to raw unprocessed samples was observed when processing samples at 90 °C for 1 min. This was assumed to be due to cell wall polysaccharides dissolution. However, negative correlation between total polyacetylenes and hexoses was confirmed by 1H NMR spectroscopy, indicating some biological links between polyacetylenes and soluble sugars.