Furan has been classified as a possible carcinogen and substantiated evidences have also shown
that conventional thermal treatment could stimulate furan development in food products.
Ultraviolet light (UVC) is currently known as an alternative method widely used in pasteurizing
juice. However, the effect of UVC in inducing furan development has not been studied
specifically on UVC-treated pummelo juice. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the
development of furan in UVC-treated pummelo juice and its relationships to the juice sugar
contents. Our results showed that furan development within the juice post-UVC treatment was
dose-dependent and inversely proportional to the amount of sugar and ascorbic acid (p
Ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) was applied for the extraction of bioactive valuable compounds from winter melon (Benincasa hispida) seeds. Effects of amplitude (25-75%), temperature (40-60°C) and sonication time (20-60 min) on crude extraction yield (CEY) and radical scavenging activities (RSA, % inhibition of DPPH˙ and ABTS˙+ free radicals) of extracts were determined using complete randomised design (CRD). The results showed that the CEY and RSA of extracts significantly affected by independent variables. The maximum value of CEY (97.14±0.36 mgg-1), scavenging of DPPH˙ radicals (32.12 ± 0.38%) and scavenging of ABTS˙+ radicals (40.52±0.73%) were obtained at the combined treatment conditions of 75%, 55°C and 40 min. The UAE results obtained were compared with those achieved by using conventional Soxhlet extraction (CSE) method. It was found UAE allowed extraction at lower temperature and the extracts obtained posses higher quality compare with CSE. UAE is a promising environment friendly technique for the extraction of bioactive compounds from winter melon (Benincasa hispida) seeds.