: Processing and preservation of food is essential for value addition it require a variety of different methods and heat treatment is the most widely used methods due to its high efficiency on microbial inactivation. But exposure to high temperature causes undesirable changes such as reduction in organoleptic quality as well as reduction in heat-sensitive nutrients. Additionally, increasing consumer demand for minimally processed good quality and safe food products with natural flavor and taste, free from additives and preservatives, causes the need for the development of non-thermal methods for food preservation. There are a number of non-thermal methods used for food preservation all over the world. Foods can be non-thermally processed by High pressure processing, Pulsed electric field, Ohmic heating, Ultrasound treatment, etc. These novel technologies result in pathogen free foods with improved texture and improved shelf life. These techniques retain natural freshness, color and nutritive characteristics as compared to heat processing. The present review discusses the various novel non thermal techniques used today for food preservation.

Cactus fruit (Prickly pear) has received abundant attention with regard to its high nutraceutical value and also is also grown locally in various regions of Maharashtra. Therefore, the present study was carried out on preparation of RTS beverage blends from prickly pear, kokum and coconut water to improve its quality and flavor. These blends were packaged in 200 ml nontransparent stand pouch and tested for physico-chemical, sensory evaluation and microbial analysis. Chemical composition carried out of unblended pulp. The pH, total soluble solids (TSS), titratable acidity, color analysis, ascorbic acid were determined. The blend of cactus fruit and kokum at ratio (3:1) received the highest scores in overall acceptability. Therefore, it was evaluated for polyphenol content by using Folin-Ciocalteu reagent, antioxidant activity was measured using two in vitro assays 2, 2'-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and sensory was carried out to check the acceptability of beverage after adding of low GI sugar and stevia. Pasteurization was carried out to increase shelf life.How to cite this paper : More, Vasundhra Devidas, Sindhu, Saloni, Shweta, Sujata and Jaglan, Vipul (2018). Development of low calorie RTS beverage rich in nutraceuticals and antioxidants from cactus fruit and kokum fruit by blending with coconut water. Internat. J. Agric. Engg., 11(Sp.