Pasteurization of prickly pear juice
Pasteurization played a crucial role in maintaining the cleanliness and usability of our samples both before and during fermentation. After pasteurization, there were notable changes in the prickly pear juice’s characteristics. Specifically, the total phenol content and free radical scavenging activity were significantly decreased (p<0.05), while the reducing sugar concentration showed a significant increase (p<0.05). However, pasteurization had no discernible effect on the ethanol and acetic acid content.
Kumar et al., (2017) and
Phanindrakumar et al., (2005) have highlighted that conventional pasteurization through natural juice heating results in an elevation of reducing sugars, potentially due to the conversion of non-reducing sugars to reducing sugars. There was a slight increase in reducing sugars since prickly pear juice intrinsically contains only a minimal amount of non-reducing sugars, with sucrose constituting a mere 0.19% in prickly pear pulp
(Salim et al., 2009).
On the other hand, the recorded drop in total phenol content and free radical scavenging activity can be attributed to the harmful impact of heat treatment on the juice.
Chen et al., (2013), Cinquanta et al., (2010) and
Tahar et al., (2019) have reported decreases of approximately 13% and 10% in carotenoids and polyphenols, respectively after traditional thermal pasteurization.
Alcoholic fermentation
During alcoholic fermentation, the sugar content decreased significantly (p<0.05). Simultaneously, the ethanol content increased significantly (p<0.05), as illustrated in Fig 1. This decrease in sugar content is attributed to the transformation of fermentable sugars into ethanol by yeasts, a process that does not require oxygen
(Fatima and Mishra, 2015;
Yikmis et al., 2020).
The initial acetic acid content of 0.04% experienced a significant increase (p<0.05) during alcoholic fermentation, reaching a level of 0.27%.
Erasmus et al., (2004) discovered that high sugar concentrations during alcoholic fermentation induced yeast to produce a modest quantity of extracellular organic acids, primarily acetic acid, as a by-product in response to hyperosmotic stress.
However, neither the total phenolic content nor the DPPH free-radical scavenging activity were significantly affected by alcoholic fermentation (p>0.05). Most phenols remained unchanged during the fermentation process
(Nogueira et al., 2008) and the sample’s anti-oxidative activity did not change either
(Perez-Gregorio et al., 2011).
Optimization of acetic fermentation
(Tf) had a significant effect (p<0.05) on reducing sugar content, while (Csp) did not have a significant effect (p>0.05) on reducing sugar content. The content of residual reducing sugars from alcoholic fermentation decreased simultaneously with (Tf) during acetic fermentation. These reducing sugars serve as a substrate for potential microbial activity during acetic fermentation
(EJEMNI and MEJRIS, 2006). Fig 2(a) shows that a longer Tf caused a lower content of reducing sugars in vinegar.
In terms of ethanol content, a significant impact (P<0.05) caused by higher (Tf) was noticed, while (Cps) showed no statistically significant impact (p>0.05) after acetic fermentation. During this fermentation,
Acetobacter aceti bacteria convert alcohol molecules into acetic acid molecules
(Tesfaye et al., 2002), leading to a decrease in ethanol content. Nevertheless, there are losses of ethanol due to evaporation during acetic fermentation
(Romero and Cantero, 1998). Therefore, as illustrated in Fig 2(b), a longer (Tf) resulted in a lower ethanol concentration in the sample.
Moreover, the findings in Table 1 reveal that (Tf) exerted a statistically significant impact (p<0.05) on acetic acid content during acetic fermentation, while (Cps) showed no significant impact (p>0.05). The acetic acid content initially increased, reaching a peak of more than 5%, but subsequently decreased gradually, as illustrated in Fig 2(c). It is noteworthy that acetic acid is a substance that evaporates rapidly during acetic fermentation
(De Vuyst and Leroy, 2020).
Both (Tf) and (Cps) exhibited a significant effect (p<0.05) on total phenolic content and DPPH free radical scavenging activity, as indicated by Table 1 and Fig 2(d) and 2(e). According to studies by
Andlauer et al., (2000) and
Su and Chien (2007), acetification typically leads to a decrease in the total anthocyanin content, total phenolic content and antioxidant activities of vinegar during acetic fermentation. This decline is often attributed to the oxidation of bioactive compounds induced by continuous airflow. However, our results, as presented in Table 1 and Fig 2(d) and 2(e), contradict these findings. We observed a significant increase in the total phenolic content and antioxidant activity of vinegar, which can be attributed to the hydro-alcoholic extraction of bioactive compounds from the seed powder. Supporting this,
Benattia (2017) reported that the hydro-ethanolic polar extract of prickly pear seeds is very rich in phenolic compounds and anti-radical activity.
Verification of optimum point
To assess the validity of the experimental design in optimizing the acetic fermentation process, response surface methodology was employed. Optimized conditions obtained from Design Expert software are (Tf)= 248.81 h and (Cps)= 35.52%, where the predicted values of the RSM model are compared to the experimental values of prickly pear vinegar samples produced in the verification process of acetic fermentation, as presented in Table 2.
The prickly pear vinegar produced 5.55% acetic acid content and 0.42% ethanol content, which meets the regulatory requirements for vinegar.
The prickly pear vinegar sample showed a significantly lower concentration of reducing sugars and total phenol content (p<0.05) compared to the predicted values, showing a very slight and acceptable deviation. Conversely, there were no statistically significant disparities (p>0.05) between the ethanol content, acetic acid content and free-radical scavenging activity of the prickly pear vinegar and the predicted values for these parameters. This proved that the RSM model is a good one.
The prickly pear vinegar enriched with seed powder exhibited significantly (p<0.05) higher levels of reducing sugar content, total phenolics and free-radical scavenging activity compared to the non-enriched prickly pear vinegar prepared in the same laboratory and under identical conditions. Conversely, the content of acetic acid was significantly (p<0.05) lower in enriched prickly pear vinegar. No significant difference was recorded regarding the ethanol content.
A probable antimicrobial activity linked to the bioactive compounds extracted from prickly pear seed powder, causing a delay and a partial inhibition of the activity of
Acetobacter, which explains the lower level of acetic acid in the enriched prickly pear vinegar. Moreover, this inhibition also affected the microbes responsible for the degradation of reducing sugars during acetic fermentation, causing a higher content of reducing sugars and the added seed powder causes a higher total phenolic content and a superior antioxidant power.
Table 2 displays the total phenolic content in enriched prickly pear vinegar samples, measured at (1670.18 mg GAE/L). This surpasses the levels found in unenriched prickly pear vinegar and exceeds the values reported for prickly pear vinegar by
Hammouda et al., (2021) and traditional apple vinegar by
Ozturk et al., (2015), which are (1631.44, 1636.75 and 434.88 mg GAE/L) respectively.
Notably, The IC50 of vinegar samples (concentration that inhibits 50% of the DPPH radical) was 0.16 for enriched prickly pear vinegar samples and (0.19; 0.19; and 3.43 mg/mL) for unenriched prickly pear vinegar samples, prickly pear vinegar reported by
Hammouda et al., (2021) and traditional apple vinegar reported by
Ozturk et al., (2015). It is well known that the antiradical activity is better when the IC
50 value is lower.
Chemical composition changes during the different stages of production of enriched prickly pear vinegar
The changes in chemical composition from raw prickly pear juice through pasteurized juice and wine to vinegar are depicted in Fig 3. Total phenolic content and free-radical scavenging activity of prickly pear juice dropped after pasteurization, while the reducing sugar concentration rose. Polysaccharide hydrolysis led to an increase in reducing sugar content. The significant reduction in total phenolic concentration and free radical scavenging activity is attributed to their destruction upon the application of heat treatment
(Chen et al., 2013). Heat processing had no effect on the ethanol and acetic acid contents.
During alcoholic fermentation, the increase in ethanol content and decrease in sugar content observed in pasteurised prickly pear juice is due to the transformation of sugar molecules into ethanol through the action of yeast
(Fatima and Mishra, 2015;
Yikmis et al., 2020). Acetic acid content in wine samples also increased. Total phenolic content and free radical scavenging activity did not differ significantly (p>0.05) between the juice and wine samples.
Acetic fermentation leads to an increase in acetic acid content and a decrease in ethanol content, as
Acetobacter spp. convert ethanol into acetic acid.
(Tesfaye et al., 2002). A significant increase in the total phenolic content and antioxidant activity of vinegar compared to wine was recorded. This is simply because during the acetic fermentation, a hydro-alcoholic extraction of bioactive compounds from the seed powder occurred
(Benattia and Arrar, 2018).