PROCESSING AND PRESERVATION OF BITTER GOURD JUICE

Abstract

The study was conducted to formulate bitter gourd juice from matured bitter gourd, to study microbial analysis and also to evaluate the sensory attributes of the prepared bitter gourd juice. Firm and Fresh bitter gourd was analyzed for its composition. The pulp was prepared from matured bitter gourd. Calculated amount of sugar, citric acid and water were mixed and heated for 60°C for 15 minutes and cooled down to 28°C temperature and 0.6 gm potassium metabisulphite (KMS) was added to it and mixed thoroughly. The finished products were kept into clean, dry and sterilized glass bottles and sealed properly. The sealed bottles were stored in cool and dry places. The samples were analyzed for proximate composition and sensory evaluation was done to detect the best sample and sample differences. The results from panel taste revealed that the color, flavor, texture and overall acceptability were the best in Sample S) The bests Sample S contained 300 ml juice, sugar-90 gm, citric acid-3.5 gm, KMS-0.6 gm and water-605.9 ml for each 1000 ml of juice. The juice did not show any change in quality attributes during the storage period till 2 to 4 months. The keeping quality, shelf life and consumer’s acceptability of the products were investigated. The juice was also analyzed for their TSS, acidity, pH and vitamin C. It was found that TSS and acidity increased slightly but vitamin C and pH were decreased gradually during the storage periods. Fading of colour and off flavour was found at the end of storage periods. This research reveals that bitter gourd can be converted to nutritious juice and this increase the preservation time as well as value of the product.