Comprehensive evaluation of the effect of five sterilization methods on the quality of black carrot juice based on PCA, TOPSIS and GRA models

The effect of thermal pasteurization (TP), high temperature long time (HTLT), ultra-high temperature instantaneous (UHT), high hydrostatic pressure (HHP) and thermosonication (TS) sterilization on the physicochemical, sensory and functional properties of black carrot juice (BCJ) were studied. And for the first time, the comprehensive quality of sterilized BCJ was quantified by mathematical modeling. UHT was the least suitable sterilization method for BCJ resulting from the most severe deterioration in functional properties. TS had adverse effects on sensory and physicochemical properties, but significantly increased the total flavonoids and anthocyanins contents (p < 0.05) and showed the strongest antioxidant activity, making it a nutritional high-value processing method. TP and HHP balanced the improvement of sensory properties and the retention of functional properties, which were the most suitable sterilization methods for BCJ. This study determined the optimal sterilization methods of BCJ, and provided a scientific solution for the screening of high quality processing methods.