*2.7. Pasteurization*

To perform the pasteurization, the bags containing the samples were immersed in a water bath at 95 ◦C until 90 ◦C was achieved inside the bags. From that moment on, the bags were left to stand inside the bath for 60 s and were then cooled by covering the bags with ice until 3 ◦C was reached inside the bags. This temperature was chosen due to the fact of its effectiveness in eliminating amicroorganisms usually present in this kind of product, without anthocyanin degradation. One of the bags containing the pasteurized sample was used to assess the microbial load, according to sub-Section 2.9.3, and the remaining three bags were stored at 3 ◦C for ~15 h for further spray-drying.
