Evaluation of the effects of storage time and temperature on the beverages

Beverages are an important part of the food sector their storage is also one of the most critical issues. This study investigated the effects of different storage temperatures and times on physicochemical properties, flavonoid and organic acid contents of soda, sherbet and ice tea produced by adding sour grape concentrate. Changes in the flavan-3-ol content of ice tea were also measured during the storage period. The beverages were stored in three different conditions, cold storage (~4°C), room temperature (~24°C) and controlled storage (20±1°C), for six months and analyzed every two months. Storage temperatures and time affected the total soluble solids and acidities of the beverages (p≤0.05). Tartaric acid decreased during storage, especially during the first two months in sherbets. Ice tea and soda drinks were found more stable than sherbets. The malic acid was found the major organic acid in beverages. Flavonoid content in ice tea was higher than others. The flavonoid concentrations of ice tea stored at 20 and 24°C and of sherbet at 4°C were statistically significant as a function of storage time while these values were not significant for ice tea stored at 4°C and of sherbet at 20 and 24°C (p≤0.05). Concentrations of flavan-3-ols varied with storage conditions. The levels of epicatechin, epigallocatechin and epigallocatechin gallate in ice tea samples decreased between an average of 43.72 and 71.15% at the end of six months of storage. Principal component analysis separated two months storage from other storage periods and perfectly discriminated the studied flavan-3-ols except catechin. Soluble solid and brix-acid ratio also dissociated similarly to flavan-3-ols.