Abstract: In order to select sea buckthorn (SBT) cultivars suitable for juice making, this study characterized the physicochemical properties of SBT berries from three cultivars (‘Chinese SBT’, ‘Shengguo NO.1’, ‘Shenqiuhong’) in China. It was found that ‘Chinese SBT’ showed the highest superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity ((1 029.14 ± 77.72) U/g), total phenolic content ((8.37 ± 0.20) mg gallic acid equivalent (GAE)/g), and antioxidant capacity ((11.04 ± 0.27) and (6.06 ± 0.32) mmol Trolox equivalent (TE)/100 g determined by 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging and ferric-reducing/antioxidant power (FRAP) assay, respectively). The juice of ‘Chinese SBT’ concentrated to an over 2.5 increase in SOD activity could be developed as a functional product. The quality of SBT juice processed by high pressure processing (HPP, 500 MPa/6 min) or high-temperature short-time sterilization (HTST, 100 ℃/15 s) was comparatively evaluated. Total aerobic viable count was reduced by more than 3 (lg(CFU/mL)) by HPP and HTST. Neither yeasts nor molds were detected in the treated samples. Moreover, both treatments could increase the SOD activity whereas the HPP-treated samples exhibited higher SOD activity during storage. HPP and HTST well retained total phenols, L-ascorbic acid, and antioxidant capacity. These quality characteristics were well preserved during storage at 4 ℃. Therefore, HPP- or HTST-treated SBT juice can be developed as a functional product with high antioxidant and SOD activity.

Key words: sea buckthorn juice; antioxidant capacity; antioxidant compounds; high pressure processing sterilization; high-temperature short-time sterilization