Effect of the carotene fortification of a cucumber juice on shelf life with extracts from tomato by-products

The food industry generates a great amount of tomato by-products, which are rich in health-promoting compounds. The extraction of such phytochemicals and their encapsulation is a promising alternative within a circular economy scenario that could be further used to supplement new foods. Therefore, the objective of this work was to fortify a cucumber juice with encapsulated carotenes from tomato by-products and study its shelf life. Tomato by-products were encapsulated with maltodextrin and extracts were obtained by spray-drying. They were incorporated into a fresh cucumber juice in a proportion of 5 g/L. The total antioxidant capacity (TAC) were measured weekly for 3 weeks at 4 ºC using the frap method and epiphytic microbial load. High hydrostatic pressure (HHP) was used as the processing treatment (400 MPa for 4 min), while non-HHP-treated samples were used as the control (CTRL). The TAC in enriched samples increased from ̴5 to ̴25% compared to CTRL samples (HHP-untreated and without encapsulated tomato extracts); this observed increase was higher from the seventh day to the end of the study. The total vial count was reduced by ̴ 56% log CFU/mL at day 0 and by ̴69% log CFU/mL after 21 days at 4 ºC in HHP-treated samples. No sensory alterations or physicochemical changes were perceived at any sampling time. Thus, carotene fortification with encapsulated extracts from tomato by-products can be a good tool to enhance the health-promoting compounds of vegetal beverages during a refrigerated shelf life.