Application of High-Pressure Homogenization for Apple Juice: An Assessment of Quality Attributes and Polyphenol Bioaccessibility

In the current work, the influence of high-pressure homogenization (HPH) (200, 250, and 300 MPa) on pH, Brix, turbidity, viscosity, particle size distribution (PSD), zeta potential, color, polyphenol oxidase (PPO), peroxidase (POD), polyphenol profile and bioaccessibility of total phenolic compounds was studied. The results show no change in the apple juice’s pH, TSS and density. In contrast, other physiochemical properties of apple juice treated with HPH were significantly changed. Besides total phenolic content (15% degradation) in the HPH-treated apple juice at 300 MPa, the PPO and POD activities were reduced by a maximum of 70 and 35%, respectively. Furthermore, among different digestion stages, various values corresponding to PSD and zeta potential were recorded; the total phenolic content was gradually reduced from the mouth to the intestine stage. The polyphenol bioaccessibility of HPH-treated apple juice was 17% higher compared to the untreated apple juice.