Fermentative processing of unexploited fruit, karonda (Carissa carandus L.) into alcoholic beverages

Abstract

Karonda (Carissa carandus L.) is an underexploited fruit rich in bioactive compounds and is well-known for its therapeutic and nutraceutical potential. The ripe fruits are highly perishable in nature due to which a fermentative process may be exploited for retention of its bioactive compounds. In the present study, two variables i.e. total soluble solids (oBx) and juice content (% v/v) were standardized for the development of fermented alcoholic beverages using Saccharomyces cerevisiae MTCC 11,815 from ripe fruits of two karonda genotypes i.e. white with pink blush and green with purple blush. The alcoholic beverages prepared under optimized conditions were further subjected to organoleptic evaluation. The results revealed that the optimized fermentation parameters i.e. total soluble solids and juice content are 20 oBx and 51.712% (w/v) and 15.5 oBx and 30% (w/v) for white with pink blush and green with purple blush, respectively, which were further confirmed through validation experiments. The alcohol content of karonda beverages varied from 4.55 to 5.56%. The fermented alcoholic beverages were also found to retain ascorbic acid (mg/100 ml), phenolics (mg/100 ml) and antioxidants (% DPPH scavenging activity) as 24.5 and 28.5; 17.9 and 15.0; 84.85 and 81.05, respectively, among white with pink blush and green with purple blush. The organoleptic evaluations of the fermented beverages from both genotypes were rated as “liked very much”. The present study thus aids in the promising potential of fermentative processing of karonda to harness bioactives in the fruit, thereby, contributing to food and nutritional security.