Study of inhibition of browning of clarified banana juice

Abstract

Browning is the second largest cause of quality loss in fruits and vegetables. It seems to be the most severe problem during banana pulp processing. Effect of two anti-browning pretreatments <italic>viz</italic>. addition of ascorbic acid (200-1200 ppm) and blanching the peeled fruits (90°C for different periods) prior to enzymatic clarification banana juice were studied. Effectiveness of anti-browning pretreatments to the pulp was evaluated by measuring the browning in terms of Browning Index in prepared clarified juices. Clarified banana juice obtained from untreated pulp had dark brown colour with initial browning index value of 0.411 which continuously increased and reached to 0.586 at 24 h of storage. Pretreatment of pulp with 1000 ppm of ascorbic acid or heating at 90°C for 6 minute was observed to retain the natural colour of prepared clarified juice without marked changes up to 4 h of storage at room temperature. However preheating of banana pulp observed to be caused cooked flavour and altered the original taste of the clarified juices.