Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of cryoconcentration assisted by centrifugation-filtration on the bioactive compounds and the microbiological quality of aqueous maqui (Aristotelia chilensis (Mol.) Stuntz) and calafate (Berberis microphylla G. Forst) extracts pretreated with high-pressure homogenization (HPH). Aqueous extracts were prepared from fresh fruits which were treated with HPH (predefined pressure and number of passes). The best pretreatment was determined by aerobic mesophilic, fungal, and yeast counts. Treated extracts were frozen at -30 degrees C in special tubes and centrifuged at 4000 rpm for 10 min to obtain the cryoconcentrated product. The optimal pretreatment conditions for HPH were 200 MPa and one pass in which the extracts exhibited no microorganism counts. Cryoconcentration by freezing and subsequent centrifugation-filtration in a single cycle showed high process efficiency (>95%) in both soluble solids and bioactive compounds (total polyphenols and anthocyanins) and antioxidant capacity of the fresh fruits and extracts. The HPH treatment and subsequent cryoconcentration assisted by centrifugation-filtration is an efficient technology to obtain concentrates with good microbiological quality and a high content of bioactive compounds.