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.

The study assessed the quality of beverage prepared from toasted melon (Colocynthis citrullus) seeds. The melon seeds were toasted at 120 o C for 10 min, dehulled manually, blended with hot water at 1:6 (kernel: water) ratio and the slurry was screened through a double folded cheese cloth. The extract was ameliorated with 5% (w/v) sucrose and then flavored with pineapple, vanilla, lemon, orange, banana and mango flavors. The chemical composition and sensory properties of the beverages were determined. The toasted melon beverage containing pineapple flavor was preferred to the other beverages. The toasted melon beverage containing 0.8 % pineapple flavor had 3.0% protein, 4.0% fat, 2.0% ash, 5.0% carbohydrate, 8.3 o Brix soluble solids and pH of 5.2. The non-flavored beverage was fairly acceptable. However, flavoring significantly (P<0.05) improved the sensory properties of the toasted melon beverage.

Orange juice has become one of the most widely accepted natural beverages due to its invigorating flavours, source of quick energy in the form of natural sugars and its nutrient which support the growth of acid tolerant bacteria, yeasts and moulds. Present investigation was conducted to study the microbiological examination of commercially and freshly prepared orange juices. Freshly prepared orange juices were pasteurised, carbonated, concentrated and chemically treated with a preservative (sodium metabisulphite) and stored under, freezer, refrigeration and ambient temperature for 90 days. The pH ranged from 3.0 to 4.5 for the commercially, fresh and stored samples respectively. The total bacterial load ranged from 1.6x105 to 3.6x106 and the total yeast cell counts ranged from 1.7x104 to 4.8x106 cfu/ml for the commercially, freshly and stored samples. Twenty-two microbial species including 5 bacterial isolates, 6 yeast isolates and 11 isolates of mould were isolated from the orange juices. The bacterial isolates identified from the samples were Bacillus megaterium, Bacillus cereus, Bacillus pantothenticus, Bacillus aeruginosa and Escherichia coli. The fungal isolates were Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Saccharomyces rouxii, Saccharomyces telluris, Blastomyces sp, Aspergillus sp, Mycelia sp, Chrysosporium sp, and Trichoderma sp. Among the bacterial isolates, Bacillus sp was the predominant, while the fungi Saccharomyces sp and Mycelia sp were the predominant fungi and accounted for five out of 11 isolates. The isolates of bacteria, yeasts and moulds appear to be persistent throughout the period of this study and could be used as indicators of microbial quality. A safe microbial load and reduction in contamination of orange juice /fruit juices can be achieved by combination of processing methods such as chemical preservatives with pasteurisation,concentration with carbonation under controlled microbiological environments such as freezer and refrigeration temperatures.