Evaluation of Homogenization Effect on Rheological Properties and Stability of Peach Nectar

Nowadays, use of non-additive food products has become a fundamental issue and a general demand for consumers. On the other hand, the rheological properties and viscosity of beverage products are one of the important factors that impacts acceptability of these products. Hence, it is essential to find a way to solve this problem and improve the quality properties of juices.

In this study, the effect of homogenization with 5,000 and 10,000 rpm at 5 and 10 minutes was studied on the physico-chemical and rheological properties of peach nectar.

Homogenization significantly increased the apparent viscosity of the samples by 5% level, therefor from 10.6 mPa in the control sample, it was 16.67 mPa in the homogenized sample at 10,000 rpm and 5 min. On the other hand, homogenization improved color characteristics and peach nectar sedimentation as compared to the control sample. In addition, homogenization increased pH, brix, formalin index, and turbidity significantly. However, acidity of the samples increased insignificantly. Besides that, the particle size decreased significantly by the homogenization procedure.

According to the results of this study, it might be concluded that the application of homogenization improves the viscosity and stability of treatments and therefore the homogenization process can be used as a substitute for viscous additives.