Quality Characteristics, Nutraceutical Profile, and Storage Stability of Aloe Gel-Papaya Functional Beverage Blend

Abstract

Aloe vera gel, well known for its nutraceutical potential, is being explored as a functional ingredient in a wide array of health foods and drinks. Processing of exotic fruits and herbal botanicals into functional beverage is an emerging sector in food industry. The present study was undertaken to develop a spiced functional RTS beverage blend using Aloe gel (AG) and papaya. Aloe gel (30%), papaya pulp (15%), spice extract (5%), and citric acid (0.1%) were mixed in given proportion to prepare the blend with TSS of 15 °Brix. The product was bottled, pasteurized, and stored at room temperature. The quality characteristics and storage stability of the spiced beverage blend (SAGPB) were compared with spiced papaya RTS beverage (SPB). Periodic analysis was carried out up to five months for various physicochemical parameters, sugar profile, bioactive compounds, microbial quality, instrumental color, and sensory acceptability. The SAGPB exhibited superior quality characteristics compared to SPB both in fresh and in stored samples. The SPB was acceptable up to four months and SAGPB for five months. The results indicate that nutraceutical rich AG could be successfully utilized to develop functional fruit beverages with improved quality and shelf life.

Comparative shelf life study of two different rice beers prepared using wild-type and established microbial starters

“…In terms of L , a and b parameters, a greater change in colour (Δ E ) of the beers was found in BS‐1 (9.90 to 42.19), whereas minimum change was observed in BS‐2 (7.79–24.81) during this storage study. A similar trend was shown by Ramachandran and Nagarajan in an aloe gel–papaya functional beverage, where a degradation of red colour was reported during storage.…”

Development and Quality Evaluation of Ready to Serve (RTS) Beverage from Cape Gooseberry (Physalis peruviana L.)

“…Increase in the pools of TSS of the product could be due to the hydrolysis of the polysaccharides (such as starch and pectin) into simple sugars such as monosaccharides (such as glucose and fructose) and oligosaccharides (sucrose) and other constituents [32,[41][42][43][44][45]. Similar changes in TSS during storage were also reported in functional ready to serve (RTS) drinks made from a blend of Aloe vera, sweet lime, amla, and ginger [46].…”

Nonthermal Technologies for Fruit and Vegetable Juices and Beverages: Overview and Advances

“…Therefore, promoting fruit and vegetable consumption is a key objective of food and nutrition policy interventions conducted around the world by government and nongovernment stakeholders (Rekhy and McConchie ). Fruit and vegetable juices, juice blends, smoothies, fermented and enriched beverages are an increasingly popular way of consuming fruit and fresh‐like vegetables and may contribute to a healthy diet and healthy life (Wootton‐Beard and Ryan ; Corbo and others ; Marsh and others ; Ramachandran and Nagarajan ; Hurtado and others ).…”

“…of Foggia, Foggia, Italy. Direct inquiries to author Corbo (E-mail: mariarosaria.corbo@unifg.it). smoothies, fermented and enriched beverages are an increasingly popular way of consuming fruit and fresh-like vegetables and may contribute to a healthy diet and healthy life (Wootton-Beard and Ryan 2011; Corbo and others 2014; Marsh and others 2014; Ramachandran and Nagarajan 2014;Hurtado and others 2015).…”