## 4 Conclusions  
The present study demonstrated that pulsed electric field (PEF) treatment is a viable non-thermal technology for stabilizing blood orange juice, effectively reducing the total microbial load and enhancing shelf-life without compromising its nutritional, antioxidant, and sensory qualities. While the adoption of innovative non-thermal technologies for citrus juice stabilization involves initial investment costs and faces challenges due to the lack of regulations or legislative provisions in the European Community food industry, several significant opportunities exist. Mild technologies, including PEF, utilize electricity, leading to substantial reductions in gas emissions and water consumption. Additionally, as the electrical grid increasingly relies on renewable sources like photovoltaic energy, the operating costs of these technologies can be further minimized. This research highlights new opportunities for applying PEF technology to create fresh-like products that retain their taste and freshness with a 15-20-day shelf-life.  
Moreover, based on our results, PEF technology can be also conveniently used during the citrus juice processing chain as an alternative to the re-pasteurization of frozen orange juice that is previously thermally pasteurized and stored in drums, and then thawed to be sent through refrigerated transport to third-party companies that use the juice for the production of fruit drinks and beverages. Our results highlighted that PEF treatment avoids the re-application of heat and the subsequent sensorial/nutritional alterations in the semi-finished products that are to be sold to third parties. The application of PEF technology at this stage of the citrus juice processing chain would be very significant in avoiding the re-pasteurization and further thermal damage of the juice.  
The applicability of the PEF technology proposed herein to other types of fruit and vegetable juices (acidic or not) and in other storage conditions (refrigerated or not) will be the object of further studies to validate its effectiveness and promote its application in other fruit and vegetable supply chains.  
Conceptualization, S.F.; methodology, S.F., L.A.N., G.M.P. and N.T.; software, S.F. and G.M.P.; validation, S.F. and I.A.N.; formal analysis, S.F., G.M.P. and N.T.; investigation, S.F., G.M.P. and N.T.; resources, S.F. and F.G.; data curation, S.F., G.M.P. and N.T.; writing--original draft preparation, S.F.; writing--review and editing, S.F., I.A.N., N.T., M.A., G.B. and F.G.; Supervision, S.F.; project administration, S.F.; funding acquisition, S.F. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.  
This research was funded by Italian Ministry of University and Research, \"Shelf-life, quality and safety of high-convenience fruit and vegetables (POFACS) Project\" Directional Decree n. 1211 of 30 July 2020 and its corrigendum no. 1104 of 12 May 2021.  
Participants involved in the sensory analysis were informed about the nature and composition of the experimental product and that the tested product was safe for consumption. They gave their consent by signing a document containing information relating to the product and indicating that they could withdraw from the study at any time without giving any reason.  
Not applicable.  
The data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available due to privacy.  
Author [PERSON] was employed by the company Oranfrizer Juice S.R.L.; Author [PERSON] was employed by the company OptiCept Technologies AB. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.