Quantifying the Influence of Thermal Process Parameters on in Vitro β-Carotene Bioaccessibility: A Case Study on Carrots

This study describes a detailed and systematic investigation on the effect of thermal processing in terms of temperature and time (kinetic study) on beta-carotene in vitro bioaccessibility in carrots. beta-Carotene in vitro bioaccessibility increased with increasing processing temperature and time until steady-state conditions were reached after prolonged heating. The bioaccessibility values in steady-state conditions were temperature dependent. The experimental bioaccessibility data could adequately be modeled with a fractional conversion model. For the first time, modeling of processing-induced bioaccessibility changes is reported in literature. The results of the present kinetic study were used to estimate the impact of industrially relevant thermal processes on beta-carotene bioaccessibility in carrots by simulation. It was shown that, to achieve a high beta-carotene bioaccessibility, processing of carrots is essential (i.e., on the one hand, intense thermal processing or, on the other hand, mild thermal processing combined with intense mechanical processing).