Improving the Extraction of Juice and Anthocyanins from Blueberry Fruits and Their By-products by Application of Pulsed Electric Fields

Pulsed electric field (PEF) treatments (1–10 kJ/kg at 3 kV/cm) were applied before pressing of blueberry fruits to improve the yield and quality of expressed juice as well as the recovery of anthocyanins from blueberry by-products (press cake) via solid–liquid extraction. A PEF pre-treatment at 1 kJ/kg was sufficient to significantly increase the juice yield (by 32%) with respect to the untreated sample. Higher energy input (10 kJ/kg) was most favorable for the largest increment of anthocyanin content (55%) and antioxidant capacity (36 and 41%, determined by ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl hydrate (DPPH) assay, respectively) in juice. Extracts obtained from the press cake of PEF-treated blueberries at 10 kJ/kg possessed an anthocyanin content (75%) and antioxidant capacity (71 and 109%, determined by FRAP and DPPH assay, respectively) higher than that of the extracts obtained from non-treated berries press cake. HPLC analyses revealed the major classes of the detected anthocyanins as glycosides of delphinidin, cyanidin, petunidin, peonidin, and malvidin, and no significant degradation of individual anthocyanins due to PEF application was observed. The present PEF pre-treatment could be a promising approach to facilitate efficient extraction of juice and antioxidants especially anthocyanins from blueberry and their by-products.