The use of artificial intelligence in improving the preservation and quality of cashew apple juice drinks for national development

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to highlight on the use of artificial intelligence in improving the preservation and quality of cashew apple juice with an objective to reduce the astringency as well as microbial count, so that shelf life of the juice will be prolonged. Cashew apples are highly nutritious consisting of vitamins, organic acids, polyphenols, sugars, amino acids and minerals. Although cashew fruits are in abundance, their utilization is limited due to astringency and rapid microbial deterioration. The effects of clarification, sterile filtration and chemical preservation were investigated. The juice from the cashew apple was extracted using mechanical juice extractor with stainless metal. The extractor had an average efficiency of 80%. Three samples of the juice (fresh juice, juice stored under ambient conditions for 24 hrs and refrigerated juice at 5 0C) were tested for sensory evaluation. The results showed a significant difference (p<0.05) between the colour, taste and general acceptability of juice under ambient storage when compared with fresh juice; but there was no significant difference in the mouth feel. There was no significant difference between the colour, taste and mouth feel of the refrigerated juice and fresh juice. The physico-chemical characteristics show that appearance, specific gravity, pH and total soluble solids of the juice are affected significantly (p<0.05) by storage under ambient conditions but only the specific gravity changed significantly (p<0.05) during refrigeration. The vitamin C content of the refrigerated juice was higher than juice stored under ambient conditions and the juice can be preserved safely under refrigeration up to three months. Mechanical juice extractor should be used in extracting juice as this will reduce wastage and contamination of the products.