Drip loss during strawberry thawing : a simple method for predicting and improving the colour stability of nectars

Murray, Helen (author), Šimkova, Kristyna (author), Lindner, Marlene (author), Le Bourvellec, Carine (author), Jakopič, Jerneja (author), Halbwirth, Heidi (author), Gössinger, Manfred (author)

Drip loss is the liquid released from frozen strawberries during defrosting. High levels of drip loss make strawberries unsuitablefor many applications that require whole fruit. This study is aimed at investigating the relationship between strawberry drip lossand the colour stability of nectars produced from these strawberries. Both solid (remainder after drip removal during defrosting)and liquid fractions (drip loss) were analysed by HPLC for anthocyanin, sugar and acid concentration, as well as total soluble sol-ids and titratable acidity, to compare differences between the fractions. The results showed a strong correlation between straw-berry drip loss and the colour stability of the resulting nectars. Strawberries with high levels of drip loss produced nectars withmore stable colour. Determining the percentage of drip loss provides a quick and low-cost method for industrial nectar producersto select strawberries suitable for the production of colour-stable nectars. Furthermore, it was demonstrated for the first time thathigher levels of solid content, achieved by separating the drip loss of defrosted strawberries before processing into puree, leadto nectars with higher initial consumer acceptance factor (AF) and a higher AF after 12 weeks. As a result, these nectars had asignificantly better colour stability.

• Language: English
• Keywords: anthocyanin, colour acceptance, defrosting, shelf-life, strawberry puree
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: BF - Biotechnical Faculty
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2026
• Number of pages: 14 str.
• Numbering: Vol. 2026, Iss. 1, art. 6657122
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-181717
• UDC: 634
• ISSN on article: 2356-7015
• DOI: 10.1155/ijfo/6657122
• COBISS.SI-ID: 275153155
• Publication date in RUL: 14.04.2026

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: International journal of food science
• Shortened title: Int. j. food sci.
• ISSN: 2356-7015
• COBISS.SI-ID: 68936963

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: jagode, izguba vode med odtajanjem, odtajanje, jagodna kaša, antocianini, uporabnost, stabilnost barve

Projects

• Funder: EC - European Commission
• Funding programme: H2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
• Project number: 956257
• Name: Establishing a strong and lasting international training network for innovation in food and juice industries: a 4D-research approach for fruit juice processing
• Acronym: HiStabJuice