Vol. 12, Special Issue 10 (2023)

Author(s):
Tejesh K and Shreelaxmi

Abstract:
Kokum fruit juice is one of the refreshing summer drinks which have lot of health benefits. The high temperature during thermal processing of kokum fruit juice causes the changes in product flavors. The thermal processing also results in degradation of color, anthocyanin and ascorbic acid content present in fruit juice. In light of the increasing interest in and understanding of the advantages of alternative non-thermal methods, including pulsed electric field (PEF), the current work proposes the use of PEF to reduce the amount of bioactive chemicals lost. The study involves thermal (96 °C for 8 min), PEF (24 μs, 120 Hz and 38 kV/cm) and combination processing [PEF + Thermal (96 °C for 5 min)], of kokum fruit juice. The study also examines how storage affects the quality characteristics of Kokum juice that has undergone combination processing, thermal processing, and pulsed electric field (PEF) processing. The retention of quality and sensory attributes was higher in the PEF treated sample then that of thermal processed and combination processed sample. When contrasted with control and thermally processed samples, it was shown that the PEF and combination processed samples were extremely stable.