## 5 Conclusions  
HPP, US and PEF treatments can effectively pasteurize Reineta Parda AP, guaranteeing its refrigerated shelf-life for at least 30 days while maintaining its quality and safety. HPP at 400 MPa for 1 min, US for 12 min, and PEF at 10 kV/cm resulted in reductions in _E. coli_ in AP by at least 5 log units, meeting the Food and Drug Administration requirements for fruit processing, and the pasteurization status. The nonthermal treatments (HPP and PEF) retained better antioxidant activity than the CTP. Therefore, HPP and PEF can be used as a potential alternative for Reineta Parda AP pasteurization, resulting in a minimally processed, value-added product that can guarantee the product's safe consumption while keeping fresh-like properties and enhanced antioxidant activity, which could be used, for example, for marketing and branding purposes.  
Based on the encouraging results of this study, additional research is required into the industrial implementation of these technologies either alone or used in combination with each other, as well as an effective and deep analysis of the energetic costs associated with each processing technology. Moreover, this work not only provides insights into the use of these technologies in AP, but also underscores their practical significance, offering valuable guidance for stakeholders involved in the production and commercialization of other types of food products.  
Conceptualization, E.P.-H. and M.A.; methodology, E.P.-H., M.A., C.A.P. and J.A.S.; formal analysis, E.P.-H. and N.M.; investigation, E.P.-H.; writing--original draft preparation, E.P.-H., N.M., V.L. and C.A.P.; writing--review and editing, M.A., V.L., C.A.P. and J.A.S.; visualization, E.P.-H. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.  
This work was financially supported by the projects TAGUSVALLEY2030, RH4q (CENTRO-04-3599-FSE-000143) and TAGUSVALLEY2030, IT (CENTRO-01-0246-FEDER-000032), under the European Social Fund from the European Union managed by CENTRO 2020 and FORTUGAL 2020. This work also received financial support from PT national funds (FCT/MCTES, Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia and Ministerio da Ciencia, Tecnologia e Ensino Superiori) through the projects LA/P/0008/2020 DOI 10.54499/LA/P/0008/2020, UIDP/50006/2020 DOI 10.54499/UIDP/50006/2020. This study was also funded by the PRR--Plano de Recuperacao e Resiliencia and by the NextGenerationEU funds at TAGUSVALLEY and Universidade de Aveiro, through the scope of the Agenda for Business Innovation \"Plataforma de Valorizacao, Industrializacao e Inovacao comercial para o AgroAlimentar (VIIAFOOD)\" (Project no. 37 AAC n.\({}^{\circ}\) 02/C05-01/2022 with the application C644929456-0000040).  
The raw data supporting the conclusions of this article will be made available by the authors on request.  
This work received support from PT national funds (FCT/MCTES), through the projects LA/P/0008/2020 DOI 10.54499/LA/P/0008/2020, UIDP/50006/2020 DOI 10.54499/UIDP/50006/2020 DOI 10.54499/UIDB/50006/2020. [PERSON] and [PERSON] thank FCT/ MCTES for their grants ref. SFRH/BD/146080/2019, and SFRH/BD/137036/2018-COVID/BD/153220/203, respectively.  
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.