Abstract

Physico-chemical analyses and sensory evaluation were carried out on commercially and freshly prepared orange juice (100%) in the laboratory and its shelf-life after the storage period of 90 days using various storage methods. At the end of the study, the result showed that the laboratory processed orange juice in terms of the nutritional composition when compared with the commercially processed orange juice had a better quality considering the parameters assessed. The results of the laboratory prepared orange juice showed that the chemically treated, pasteurized, concentrated and carbonated orange juice had pH 1.6 to 4.5, TTA 0.03 to 0.31%, maturity ratio 1.16 to 8.55, total soluble solids (TSS) ranging from 26 to 33°Brix. The vitamin C content for the untreated juice (fresh) and the commercially produced were 43 and 2.67 mg/100 ml, respectively. The experimental samples of chemically treated, pasteurized, concentrated and carbonated had vitamin C content ranging from 22-29, 27-32, 28-30 and 17-29 mg/100 ml, respectively. Sodium and phosphorus were found in small amounts ranging from 0.01-0.12 and 0.001-0.02%, respectively in the orange juice. Among the various processing methods concentrated orange juice ranked first followed by chemically treated, pasteurized and carbonated in terms of the sensory evaluation as assessed by the panelists.

Key words: Orange juice, physico-chemical properties, processing techniques, sensory evaluation.