Abstract
Hazelnut, an important source of nutrition, is reasonably expensive for hazelnut milk production. Hazelnut cake, a by-product from hazelnut oil production by cold press extraction technique, does not contain any chemical residue and can be used for hazelnut beverage production. This study investigates the effects of thermosonication process on the quality parameters of hazelnut milks and also compares the observed results with the conventional thermal process. Different thermosonication conditions at different amplitude levels (40 and 60% amplitudes for 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 min and 80% amplitude for 3, 5, 10 and 15 min) were studied for physicochemical and rheological properties, as well as microbial inactivation and bioactive compounds of hazelnut milk produced from the cold pressed hazelnut cake as byproduct of oil production. In general, sonication process significantly improved the total phenolic compounds, antioxidant activity, appearance and structural properties like syneresis, sedimentation, viscosity and consistency of samples. The application of thermosonication at 60% amplitude for 25 min and 80% amplitude for 15 min achieved complete inactivation of microorganisms (total aerobic mesophilic bacteria and yeast-mould). Complete inactivation of microorganisms was also achieved by conventional pasteurization at 85 °C, but this treatment caused some undesirable changes such as loses of bioactive compounds and deterioration of structural properties. The findings of the present study indicate that thermosonication can be successfully utilized for commercial processing of hazelnut milk with improved quality. This technique allows the production of hazelnut milks in safety and quality standards with highly nutritious then the conventional product.