Vanillin as an antimicrobial for producing shelf-stable strawberry puree

The utilization of vanillin was studied as a natural antimicrobial in a combined technology for producing a shelf-stable strawberry puree. Mild heat treatment (blanching) was combined with addition of 3,000 ppm vanillin and 500 ppm ascorbic acid and adjustment of water activity (a(w)) to 0.95 and pH to 3.0. This prevented growth of both native and inoculated flora for greater than or equal to 60 days storage at room temperature.