Abstract: The viscosity of mango pulp is an important factor that can provide the necessary information for the optimum design of processing units and influence consumers’ acceptability of the product. This study aimed to examine how the particle size and water soluble pectin (WSP) of un-blanched and blanched mango pulps could be affected by high pressure processing (HPP, 400 MPa/5 min or 600 MPa/1 min) and high-temperature short-time (HTST, 110 ℃/8.6 s) treatment and in turn influence the viscosity. Results showed that HPP did not change the particle size distribution of mango pulp and molar mass distribution of WSP, but it resulted in a decrease in galacturonic acid content and degree of esterification (DE) of WSP. Pectin with lower DE tended to form a stable network structure with Ca2+ bridge easily, leading to increased viscosity of mango pulp. However, HTST significantly increased the particle size distribution of mango pulp and WSP content, which may contribute to an increase in the viscosity of HTST-treated mango pulp.

Key words: high pressure, high-temperature short-time, mango pulp, particle size, pectin