LAUSR

Abstract This study aimed at investigating the effect of microencapsulated microwave-assisted extracts of pitaya peel on color, texture and oxidative stability of pork patties pressurized at 500 MPa for 10 min and stored at 4 °C during 9 days. Different enhancement levels, namely 0 (NC and PNC), 100 (P1) and 1000 (P10) ppm were investigated. High pressure processing (HPP) accelerated (P ≤ 0.05) color (L* and a* values) and texture changes, as well as lipid and protein oxidation during refrigerated storage. Butyl hydroxytoluene (BHT), P1 and P10 demonstrated a protective effect (P ≤ 0.05) against the alterations promoted by HPP. Moreover, P1 and P10 demonstrated potential for inhibiting (P ≤ 0.05) protein oxidation induced by HPP and thus, minimized (P ≤ 0.05) hardness and chewiness changes in the pork matrix. Further studies should be conducted to investigate the scalability of the application at the industrial scale.