Title: Color of Strawberry juice and Concentrate as Influenced by Heating and Storage Temperatures Abstract approved: ,

This investigation was conducted to study the effects of blanching and storage temperatures on the color of strawberry juice and concentrate. Strawberry juice and concentrate (420Srix) were prepared from blanched crushed Tioga strawberries. Crushed strawberries were blanched, in a steam-jacketed kettle, at 70°, 80°, and 90oC for 1 min. Ascorbic Acid (AA), at a level of 0.01%, was added to one batch and hoped to counteract polyphenol oxidase (PPO) activity in the early stages of processing. Samples were then stored at 1°, 21 ° and 380C and the chemical composition as well as the color parameters were monitored throughout the study. Blanching at 70oC was found to heat-inactivate PPO in straw-berries. Generally, blanching protected the compositional con-stituents, such as, anthocyanins (ACN), AA, leucoanthocyanins, flavanols and total phenolics. Initially, blanched samples contained higher concentrations of these chemicals than the un