Tender Coconut Water: A Review on Recent Advances in Processing and Preservation

Abstract

ABSTRACT Coconut water is a refreshing natural drink, low in calories and fat, rich in minerals, vitamins, and beneficial phytohormones. The nutritional and therapeutic value of tender coconut water has resulted in increased consumption and demand globally. In the present scenario, preservation, and processing is of prime importance to meet the global demand for coconut water throughout the year. Preservation of tender coconut water is the biggest challenge as the processing methods may result in loss of nutritional and therapeutic values of the water. External contaminants, enzymatic and non-enzymatic browning are critical factors mainly responsible for spoilage of coconut water. These factors cause significant changes in discoloration, off-flavor, degradation of chemical composition and structural changes. Generally, preservation methods like, conventional heating, filtration, ultraviolet treatment with the use of chemical additives are commercially in practice. However, these processing methods exhibit adverse effects on product quality and eventually reduces consumer acceptability. Hence, selection of methods plays an important role in extending the shelf life of Coconut water. This review summarizes and discusses recent advances in various thermal, non-thermal processing and preservation methods including ultrasonication, ohmic heating, microwave processing, cold plasma processing, high-pressure carbon dioxide, conventional heating, filtration, ultraviolet treatment, use of additives and their effects on product quality.