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Salmorejo, a Mediterranean tomato-oil puree, is considered a dietary source of antioxidant vitamins C and E and carotenoids lycopene and β-carotene, the latter endowed with provitamin A activity. However, these antioxidants can be degraded in oxidation reactions catalysed or not by enzymes during pasteurisation and storage treatments used to stabilise the salmorejo before consumption. Due to its better penetration, the use of dielectric heating by radiofrequency (RF) may improve results of pasteurisation in this product. The objective was to assess the effects of pasteurisation temperature (70–100 °C, at 5 °C intervals) and storage time (0–5 months, at one-month intervals) on levels of ascorbic acid, α-tocopherol and carotenoids and antioxidant capacity (AC) in salmorejo pasteurised (over 10 s) by conventional (CH) or RF continuous heating. Two successive experiments were conducted to select an adequate pasteurisation temperature for use in the shelf-life study. Pasteurisation upon tested conditions allows a good retention of salmorejo antioxidants. Either CH or RF pasteurisers can be used with similar results. Vitamin C (L-ascorbic + dehydroascorbic acids) was more abundant (15–19 mg 100 g⁻¹) than carotenoids (0.9–2.6 mg 100 g⁻¹) (all-trans + cis lycopene and β-carotene) and α-tocopherol (0.8–1.2 mg 100 g⁻¹) in the pasteurised product. Using excessively low temperatures (70 °C) resulted in partial losses of the three antioxidants, possibly due to oxidase residual activities. Intensifying thermal treatment improved this issue with minor losses of the thermolabile vitamin C and increased carotenoid content. Using a suitable temperature (80 °C) did not prevent most vitamin C from being degraded by the first month, while α-tocopherol, and, to a lesser extent, carotenoids, showed good retention levels during shelf life under refrigeration. Vitamins C and E and carotenoids, either by degradation, regeneration or releasing, likely contribute to the AC in salmorejo. Phenolic antioxidant response, radical-scavenging activities and redox potential values confirmed this finding. The pasteurised-chilled salmorejo shows good antioxidant properties with potential health implications, a positive nutritional aspect for consumers of this tomato-oil homogenate. The losses of antioxidants and AC due to pasteurization would be of little relevance compared to the losses accumulated during shelf life. Full article

Salmorejo is a tomato–oil cold puree commercialized as a “fresh-like” product requiring mild pasteurisation and chill storage to reach a suitable shelf lifetime. The objective of this study was to study the factors which limit the shelf life of salmorejo pasteurised via conventional or radiofrequency continuous heating, packed in high-density polyethylene bottles, and kept at refrigeration. The pasteurised–chilled salmorejo reached a long shelf life (4 months) compared to that of pasteurised tomato juices or purees. Mesophilic and pathogenic bacteria were easily inhibited in this acidic product. Salmorejo mainly showed oxidative and subsequent sensory changes. Initial enzyme oxidation was associated with some adverse effects (loss of vitamin C and lipid oxidation) at the first month, although there were no sensory implications. Salmorejo remained stable at the physicochemical and sensory levels for the following 3 months, though colour and viscosity changes could be measured with instruments. Between the fourth and fifth month, salmorejo showed clear signs of deterioration, including changes in appearance (slight browning and loss of smooth surface), odour/flavour (loss of freshness and homogenisation), and consistency (thinning trend). The shelf life of salmorejo is limited by long-term oxidative deterioration and their sensory implications. Full article

Salmorejo is a viscous homogenate based on tomato, olive oil and breadcrumbs commercialised as a “fresh-like” pasteurised–chilled purée. Due to its penetration, dielectric heating by radiofrequency (RF) might improve pasteurisation results of conventional heating (CH). The objective was to validate the pasteurisation temperature (70–100 °C, at 5 °C intervals) for salmorejo processed by RF (operating at 27.12 MHz for 9.08 s) or conventional (for 10.9 s) continuous heating. The main heat-induced changes include: orangeness, flavour homogenisation, loss of freshness, thickening, loss of vitamin C and lipid oxidation. Both CH and RF equivalent treatments allowed a strong reduction of total and sporulated mesophilic microorganisms and an adequate inhibition of the pectin methylesterase, peroxidase and, to a lesser extent, polyphenol oxidase but did not inhibit the polygalacturonase enzyme. Pasteurisation at 80 °C provided a good equilibrium in levels of microbiological and enzymatic inhibition and thermal damage to the product. Increasing this temperature does not improve enzyme inactivation levels and salmorejo may become overheated. A “fresh-like” good-quality salmorejo can be obtained using either conventional or radiofrequency pasteurisers. Full article

Thanks to food technology, the production of cold tomato soups such as salmorejo, a traditional Spanish dish, has become industrialised. Thermal treatments play an important role in ready-to-eat meals, prolonging their shelf-life. Radiofrequency (RF) heating is less energy-intensive than conventional heat exchangers and has been successfully used to pasteurise food; novel applications, however, provide results at laboratory or pilot scale, so conclusions might not be translatable to industry. In this study, a prospective Life-Cycle Assessment of salmorejo pasteurised using RF was performed to highlight the relevance of upscaling and to compare its environmental impacts with those of conventional pasteurisation. “Gate-to-gate” results show that the pilot has greater environmental impacts due to its greater energy consumption, as thermal energy is not recovered. The packing and landfill of organic waste exhibit the highest impacts at industrial scale. RF technology does not imply significant environmental improvements versus conventional pasteurisation. Potential changes in the energy background of future scenarios have relevant consequences in the environmental impacts. “Farm-to-factory-gate” analysis highlights ingredients and tomato valorisation as the most impacting stages. The prospective LCA of scaled up scenarios constitutes a tool for environmental screening in food ecodesign, contributing to Sustainable Development Goal 12. Full article

Salmorejo is a traditional Spanish food made of raw tomatoes, bread, garlic, and virgin olive oil. The food industry aims to satisfy consumer demand for ready-to-eat salmorejo while trying to maintain characteristics of the homemade product. In this work, we have assessed physical-chemical and color parameters, radical scavenging activity, and total polyphenol, lycopene, and β-carotene contents of raw and pasteurized commercial salmorejo, as well as homemade (raw) salmorejo samples. Our results showed that heat treatment had a significant influence on color parameters of salmorejo, with pasteurized samples being less red and exhibiting an increase in the degree of browning. Pasteurized samples also showed the highest radical scavenging activity when expressing the results per dry weight. However, when water content was considered, radical scavenging activity was superior in homemade samples when analyzing non-polar molecules extracted with acetone. Results were similar for polyphenol content. It was also observed that heat treatment affected lycopene but not β-carotene content. When acquiring commercial salmorejo at the supermarket, consumers have the option to choose between already prepared pasteurized or raw salmorejo. According to the results obtained in this work, physicochemical and functional properties of commercial raw salmorejo were comparable to a larger extent than pasteurized salmorejo compared to those exhibited by homemade salmorejo samples. Full article