The objective of this work was to obtain an isotonic drink by using pasteurization and packing into aseptic bottles, stable at room temperature, without the addition of chemical preservatives. For the sanitation of the plastic bottles some sanitizers were tested, based on their efficiency to destroy microorganism, maintaining minimum residual hydrogen peroxide, and keeping the drink sensory quality. The isotonic drink (pH 3,40) was thermaly processed in a plate pasteurizer at 85ºC/5s and packed into PET bottles sanitized by spraying peracetic acid at 0.3%/5s at 30ºC. The processed drink contained three different concentrations of potassium sorbate (control, 50 and 100mg/L). The stability of the products were evaluated at 25ºC for 26 weeks by measuring the pH, soluble solids, titrable acidity, ascorbic acid, microbial count, and sensory tests. The sensory evaluation and the count of the total mesophilic aerobic bacteria, moulds and yeast were measured during storage. There was no difference (p<0,05) for the pH, soluble solids and acidity of the processed drinks during the storage period except for the ascorbic acid which reduced to about 30% of the initial value. At 26 weeks the total bacteria and mould and yeast count were <5.7CFU/mL and <10CFU/mL, respectively. There was no sensory evaluation diference (p<0,05) during the storage test. Such results indicated that the formulated isotonic drink can be processed at the above conditions, without the addition of chemical preservatives, and stored at room temperature for at least 6 months in good commercial quality.
sport drink; stability; plastic; bottle
