Impact of Pulsed Electric Fields Combined with Thermosonication on the Physicochemical Properties of Chinese Rice Wine

HighlightsThe TS-PEF diminished the color change compared to individual treatments.The concentration of Fe, Cr, and Ni increased after the treatments of PEF and TS-PEF.The volatile flavor compounds decreased after the treatment of TS and TS-PEF.Abstract. Chinese rice wine (CRW) is a traditional wine prevalent in East Asia. In current industrial production of bottled CRW, an additional thermal pasteurization is required at the bottling stage to extend the shelf life of the product, and this thermal treatment results in quality degradation and even carcinogen formation. In our previous studies, non-thermal technologies such as pulsed electric fields (PEF), thermosonication (TS), and their combination (TS-PEF) have been shown to significantly inactivate Saccharomyces cerevisiae in CRW as an alternative to thermal pasteurization of bottled wine. However, studies of their effects on the quality of CRW are very limited. In this study, we compared the physicochemical properties of CRW treated by pasteurization, PEF, TS, and TS-PEF. The results showed that the basic physicochemical indicators of CRW (total sugar, non-sugar solids, total acidity, amino acid nitrogen, and pH) did not change significantly after all these treatments. The TS-PEF treatment reduced the total color difference caused by the TS or PEF treatments. However, corrosion of the electrodes during PEF and TS-PEF treatment caused a significant increase in iron, chromium, and nickel concentrations. In addition, volatile flavor compounds, such as alcohols, esters, acids, and aldehydes, were reduced much more after TS and TS-PEF treatment than after pasteurization and PEF. Further research is needed on minimizing the negative impacts of these new technologies on the flavor of CRW in the context of effective sterilization. Keywords: Chinese rice wine, Metal ion, Physicochemical properties, Pulsed electric fields, Ultrasound, Volatile flavor compounds.