Effect of Processing and Storage on the Quality of Beetroot and Apple Mixed Juice

In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the development of health-promoting and disease-preventing functional foods. Beetroot is a promising vegetable because of its outstanding antioxidant activity, vivid colour, and content of bioactive compounds. In the present study, the quality of pure beetroot and apple juices as well as that of their mixture was evaluated by measuring changes of colour, betalain content, and antioxidant activity during processing and storage. No perceivable colour changes of the beetroot juice were observed after adding apple juice up to 85% of the total amount. However, the antioxidant activity was proportionally reduced with the addition of apple juice. Pasteurization negatively affected the content of betalains but did not influence the antioxidant activity. Storage led to colour modifications and reduction of betalains and antioxidant activity. Through preliminary shelf-life studies, a durability of 65 days at room temperature for apple and beetroot juice blends was calculated. The novelty of this study lies in an extended description of physico-chemical characteristics of a fresh apple and beetroot blended juice obtained from local products, in the study of the effects of processing and storage on its quality, and in the estimation of its shelf-life after storage at different temperatures.