NANOEMULSION OF GINGER RHIZOME (ZINGIBER OFFICINALE) EXTRACT AS A PRESERVATIVE FOR SWEET LEMON SQUASH: AN ALTERNATIVE TO REDUCE THE USE OF BENZOIC ACID.

Abstract

Commonly used chemical preservatives used in many processed food products have an adverse impact on consumer health due to regular consumption over a long period of time. We have developed a nanoemulsion (NE) of ginger extract as natural food preservative (alternative to chemical preservative commonly used) in a sweet lemon squash. NE was prepared by using ginger rhizome extract, Tween 80 and water has an effective diameter of 91.67 nm. After the application of NE in sweet lemon squash, we have performed physico-chemical analysis, in-vitro microbial analysis, and storage studies of shelf-life determination. The efficacy of the NE was compared with samples preserved with chemical preservative. The composition of ginger extract was analyzed, and their impact on physical and chemical properties of sweet lemon squash was also evaluated. Antimicrobial activity of NE was evaluated against two microbial species, Escherichia coli (Gram negative) and Staphylococcus aureus (Gram positive) and it showed excellent antimicrobial property. Introduction:-Demand for fresh/minimally processed foods like fruits and vegetables have increased rapidly due to enhanced consumer awareness of healthy food habit. There are numerous varieties of products processed from fresh produce, most of which are very popular as nutritious food choices, and are considered to be perishable in nature. Clearly, fresh fruits and food products and beverages need to be preserved for achieving relatively enhanced shelf-life facilitating storage and/ or transportation(Nowak et al., 2016 and Santos et al., 2015).On an average, eighteen percent (18%) of India's freshly harvested fruits and vegetables valued at Rs. 133 billion are wasted due to lack of proper preservation system (Sagheer et al., 2009). Such wastes may also create an imbalance in market demand-supply ratio, and hence overall business and trade of fresh fruits to consumers throughout the year, effective preservation strategies need to be applied. Conversion of fruits into packaged fruit product is one of the effective preservation techniques for prevention of contamination and/or spoilage of the fruit-derived products, including juice. Fruit preservation, if effectively implemented, prevents contamination from the foodborne pathogen(s) and minimizes the risk of incidence of foodborne infection/outbreak. However, traditional processing/preservation parameters applied in fruit manufacturing may affect the nutritional quality of fruits (Rawson, 2011). Chemical preservatives such as weak organic acid like acetic acid, lactic acid, benzoic acid and sorbic acid are effective in