STORAGE STUDIES ON BITTER GOURD JUICE PRESERVED WITH DIFFERENT CHEMICAL PRESERVATIVES

Gurpreet Kaur, Poonam Aggarwal

Abstract: Bitter gourd (Momordica charantia) is one of the most popular vegetables in Southeast Asia. It is a member of the cucurbit family and is also known as bitter melon or balsam pear. It is a good source of ascorbic acid and is used in the treatment of infectious diseases. It is anti-diabetic, stimulant, stomachic, laxative, blood purifier and control diabetes. This seasonal vegetable can be made available for the consumers in off seasons also in the form of juice. The juice can be made shelf stable by using various chemical additives. Therefore, the aim of the experiment was to compare the effect of different chemical additives namely Sodium benzoate, Potassium metabisulfite (KMS) and their combination, on the physicochemical and phytochemical parameters and antioxidant activity of Bitter gourd juice. The storage was done for 6 months at room temperature and the analysis was conducted at the interval of one month. For the physicochemical parameters like TS, TSS, acidity and Total Phenols, very slight but non-significant change was observed. Color values (Lab), Vitamin C and antioxidant activity changed significantly (p=0.05). The variation was found in the color of different samples. Considering all the parameters, samples treated with potassium metabisulfite (KMS) maintained the maximum nutrient stability.

Keywords: Antioxidant activity, Chemical additives, Bitter gourd, Phytochemicals

DOI: https://doi.org/10.15623/ijret.2014.0301038