## 3 Results and Discussion
### Characterization of Basil Pesto Samples
#### 3.2.2 Antioxidant Parameters  
For the FBL, and also for the Basil pesto samples, the pigments (CHLA and CHLB and B-carotene) were evaluated and the results are shown in Table 4.  
Compared with the FBL (Table 2), the pesto saucte suffered a reduction in chlorophyll a contents, with values under 2 mg 100 g\({}^{-1}\), but the most obvious reduction concerns the content of CHLB (under 0.8 mg 100 g\({}^{-1}\)). The largest decrement in these compounds was evident in the samples subjected to pasteurization treatment. Previously, [PERSON] et al. [37] reported that thermal treatment promotes the reduction in total chlorophyll content with a pronounced drop in chlorophyll a. Moreover, during the storage time, there was significant variation of these compounds, excluding sample F (\(p>0.05\)). These results are in accordance with the previously mentioned colorimetric analysis. The process of pesto preparation and the applied thermal treatment increased the \(\beta\)-carotene availability which, in particular, was measured to be higher in P and P+. Regarding the storage variable, the storage time promoted an opposite trend in fresh and pasteurized pesto sauces: incremental in the first ones and slightly decreasing in the second ones. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c c} \hline \hline  & \begin{tabular}{c} **Storage Time** \\ **(Days)** \\ \end{tabular} & \begin{tabular}{c} **CHLA** \\ **(mg 100 g\({}^{-1}\))** \\ \end{tabular} & \begin{tabular}{c} **CHLB** \\ **(mg 100 g\({}^{-1}\))** \\ \end{tabular} & \begin{tabular}{c} **\(\beta\)-CAR** \\ **(mg 100 g\({}^{-1}\))** \\ \end{tabular} & \begin{tabular}{c} **TPC** \\ **(mg GAE g\({}^{-1}\))** \\ \end{tabular} & \
\begin{tabular}{c} **DPPH** \\ **(umol TE g\({}^{-1}\))** \\ \end{tabular} &
\begin{tabular}{c} **ABTS** \\ **(umol TE g\({}^{-1}\))** \\ \end{tabular} \\ \hline \multirow{3}{*}{F} & 1 st & 1.74 \(\pm\) 0.02 & 0.78 \(\pm\) 0.03 & 0.21 \(\pm\) 0.01 & 1.00 \(\pm\) 0.00 & 2.33 \(\pm\) 0.55 & 52.26 \(\pm\) 2.75 \\  & 90 th & 1.64 \(\pm\) 0.01 & 0.71 \(\pm\) 0.01 & 0.40 \(\pm\) 0.01 & 1.64 \(\pm\) 0.00 & 3.99 \(\pm\) 0.07 & 66.05 \(\pm\) 5.92 \\  & **Sign.** & * & **n.s.** & ** & ** & **n.s.** & **n.s.** \\ \hline \multirow{3}{*}{F+} & 1 st & 1.53 \(\pm\) 0.01 & 0.76 \(\pm\) 0.02 & 0.11 \(\pm\) 0.02 & 1.66 \(\pm\) 0.00 & 3.23 \(\pm\) 0.38 & 69.10 \(\pm\) 1.42 \\  & 90 th & 1.56 \(\pm\) 0.00 & 0.66 \(\pm\) 0.01 & 0.49 \(\pm\) 0.00 & 1.88 \(\pm\) 0.00 & 3.27 \(\pm\) 0.28 & 65.70 \(\pm\) 2.53 \\  & **Sign.** & ** & ** & ** & ** & **n.s.** & **n.s.** \\ \hline \multirow{3}{*}{P} & 1 st & 1.21 \(\pm\) 0.01 & 0.57 \(\pm\) 0.01 & 0.49 \(\pm\) 0.02 & 1.39 \(\pm\) 0.01 & 3.88 \(\pm\) 0.03 & 62.58 \(\pm\) 0.09 \\  & 90 th & 1.33 \(\pm\) 0.00 & 0.28 \(\pm\) 0.00 & 0.37 \(\pm\) 0.00 & 1.87 \(\pm\) 0.00 & 4.33 \(\pm\) 0.76 & 82.72 \(\pm\) 1.49 \\  & **Sign.** & ** & ** & ** & ** & **n.s.** & **n.s.** \\ \hline \multirow{3}{*}{P+} & 1 st & 1.30 \(\pm\) 0.00 & 0.35 \(\pm\) 0.01 & 0.56 \(\pm\) 0.02 & 1.79 \(\pm\) 0.02 & 3.70 \(\pm\) 0.32 & 66.85 \(\pm\) 3.27 \\  & 90 th & 1.46 \(\pm\) 0.00 & 0.20 \(\pm\) 0.00 & 0.50 \(\pm\) 0.01 & 2.06 \(\pm\) 0.00 & 4.10 \(\pm\) 0.00 & 75.05 \(\pm\) 4.03 \\  & ** & ** & ** & ** & ** & **n.s.** & **n.s.** \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 4: Pigment and antioxidant parameter determination on pesto samples during storage. Figure 6: Sensorial evaluation of basil pesto samples during the storage period. The enrichment process applied to the pesto sauce samples resulted in an improvement in their antioxidant capacity, corresponding with an increment in bioactive compounds in the samples. Total phenolic content (TPC) showed values similar to those reported by [PERSON] et al. [38]. Specifically, 1.66 mg of gallic acid g\({}^{-1}\) and 1.79 mg of gallic acid g\({}^{-1}\) were detected, respectively, for F+ and P+ samples on the 1 st day, in contrast with a content of 1.00 mg g\({}^{-1}\) and 1.39 mg g\({}^{-1}\) detected in F and P samples (Table 4).