Effects of various clarification treatments on patulin, phenolic compound and organic acid compositions of apple juice

The purpose of this study was to investigate the comparative clarification techniques in apple juice processing and their effects on the patulin content and some other quality parameters including phenolic compounds and organic acids. The clarification techniques varied significantly in their effects for the removal of patulin from apple juice. Conventional clarification using gelatin, bentonite, and activated chat-coal was found to be more effective than others. However, this technique also caused a significant decrease in apple juice phenolics adversely affecting the juice authenticity. Adsorbent resin treatment just after ultrafiltration also resulted in a remarkable decrease in patulin and brought an improvement in juice color and clarity. PVPP itself had no observable effect on patulin, but specifically adsorbed apple juice phenolics. Organic acid compositions of the samples were not significantly affected from the clarification techniques applied in this study.