Application of UV-C radiation light in fruit juice processing

Nowadays, consumers demand high-quality and fresh-like food products. In the fruit juices industry, the applied processes to guarantee safety and increase shelf life often negatively impact final product quality. Although thermal treatments are the most frequently applied processes to preserve fruit juices, heating may induce undesirable changes in sensory and nutritional characteristics. These facts prompted research on alternative and mild-non-thermal processes that assure the quality and safety of this type of liquid food. In this context, UV-C light has emerged, presenting several characteristics that make it a promising alternative to traditional processing and appropriate for liquid foods. UV-C light attributes and their application in the food industry are described in this work. Due to the recognized potential of this non-thermal technology on fruit juices, numerous researchers have been focusing on this subject. A compilation of those works is presented and discussed, emphasizing the UV-C light impact on quality/nutritional aspects and microbial inactivation in fruit juices. This critical review paper aims to be a valuable tool for finding characteristics/ conditions of UV-C treatments and determine the corresponding impact on quality and safety parameters of fruit juices, opening topics for further research.