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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Nutr.
Sec. Nutrition and Food Science Technology
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fnut.2024.1468828

Effect of Pilot-Scale High-temperature Short-time (HTST) Processing on the Retention of Key Micronutrients in a Fortified Almond-based Beverage: Implications for Fortification of Plant-based Milk Alternatives

Provisionally accepted
Benjamin Redan Benjamin Redan 1*Joseph Zuklic Joseph Zuklic 2Jiarui Cai Jiarui Cai 2Joshua Warren Joshua Warren 2Coleton Carter Coleton Carter 1Jason Wan Jason Wan 2Amandeep Sandhu Amandeep Sandhu 2Darryl G. Black Darryl G. Black 1Lauren S. Jackson Lauren S. Jackson 1
  • 1 United States Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, United States
  • 2 Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, Illinois, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The effect of thermal processing treatments on key micronutrients in fortified almond-based beverages has not been well characterized. An almond-based beverage was produced in a pilot plant, fortified with vitamin A palmitate, vitamin D2, riboflavin (vitamin B2), calcium carbonate, and zinc gluconate, and was processed using various high-temperature short-time (HTST) pasteurization treatments. Naturally present micronutrients in the base ingredients included several B vitamins (vitamin B1 [thiamin], total vitamin B3 [sum of nicotinamide and nicotinic acid], and total vitamin B6 [sum of pyridoxal, pyridoxamine, and pyridoxine]) and minerals (magnesium, phosphorus, and potassium). The prepared almond-based beverage was homogenized and thermally processed using HTST pasteurization with a temperature range from approximately 94 to 116 °C for a constant time of 30 s. The samples were analyzed for vitamin A palmitate, vitamin D2, target B vitamins (thiamin, riboflavin, total vitamin B3, and total vitamin B6), and minerals (magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, and zinc). The results showed that amounts of vitamin A, vitamin D2, riboflavin, and total vitamin B6 did not significantly (p>0.05) change after the HTST treatments, whereas thiamin significantly (p<0.05) decreased by 17.9% after HTST treatment at 116 °C. Interestingly, total vitamin B3 content significantly (p<0.05) increased by 35.2% after HTST treatment at 116 °C. There was no effect of processing on the minerals that were monitored. The results from this study indicate that the majority of key micronutrients assessed in this study are stable during HTST processing of an almond-based beverage and that fortification of plant-based milk alternatives may be a viable process to enhance the micronutrient content consumers receive from these products.

    Keywords: Thermal processing, Nutrient degradation, Ergocalciferol, elemental analysis, Mass Spectrometry, Minerals, Plant-based beverages, vegetarian

    Received: 22 Jul 2024; Accepted: 28 Aug 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Redan, Zuklic, Cai, Warren, Carter, Wan, Sandhu, Black and Jackson. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Benjamin Redan, United States Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.