Drip Loss During Strawberry Thawing: A Simple Method for Predicting and Improving the Colour Stability of Nectars

Drip loss is the liquid released from frozen strawberries during defrosting. High levels of drip loss make strawberries unsuitable for many applications that require whole fruit. This study is aimed at investigating the relationship between strawberry drip loss and 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 solids and titratable acidity, to compare differences between the fractions. The results showed a strong correlation between strawberry drip loss and the colour stability of the resulting nectars. Strawberries with high levels of drip loss produced nectars with more stable colour. Determining the percentage of drip loss provides a quick and low‐cost method for industrial nectar producers to select strawberries suitable for the production of colour‐stable nectars. Furthermore, it was demonstrated for the first time that higher levels of solid content, achieved by separating the drip loss of defrosted strawberries before processing into puree, lead to nectars with higher initial consumer acceptance factor (AF) and a higher AF after 12 weeks. As a result, these nectars had a significantly better colour stability.