Hasan Yildiz

Color and Lycopene Content of Tomato Puree Affected by Electroplasmolysis

Tomato puree was produced using three different breaking methods, namely heating by steam injection, by electroplasmolysis, and combination of both steam injection and electroplasmolysis. In electroplasmolysis, the tomato pulp was treated at the electric field strength of 68 V/cm for 1.5 seconds. L, a, b, a/b, tomato color index, total color difference, chroma difference, hue angle, and lycopene content of purees were measured. Puree samples breaked by electroplasmolysis had better color values and the highest lycopene content. The a/b, tomato color index, and lycopene content of these samples were as 2.00; 49.94 and 273.9 mg/kg, respectively.

Ochratoxin A in grape pekmez (grape molasses) consumed in Turkey

In this study, ochratoxin A (OTA) in 55 home-made, 20 commercial and 7 organic grape pekmez (grape molasses) produced in Turkey was investigated. OTA was detected in 73% of home-made pekmez samples, in 35% of commercial pekmez samples and in 71% of organic pekmez samples. Eleven per cent of the samples had OTA levels higher than 10 µg/l. The highest OTA level (31 µg/l) was detected in organic pekmez. The maximum OTA levels were 15 µg/l and 12 µg/l in home-made and commercial pekmez samples, respectively. Mean OTA levels were 3.5 µg/l, 1.4 µg/l and 9.2 µg/l in home-made, commercial and organic pekmez samples, respectively. Organic pekmez samples and home-made pekmez samples had higher OTA contamination than commercial pekmez samples. Results confirm OTA contamination in grape pekmez samples, indicating that the OTA level in grape pekmez could be a potential risk for consumers.