Organoleptic Acceptability, Selected Nutrient Content and Physicochemical Characteristics of Coconut Neera on Storage

Abstract

Neera is the sweet juice or sap, obtained by tapping the unopened inflorescence of the coconut palm and is rich in minerals. In order to improve the nutritional quality and acceptability of the product a trial was carried out to combine aloe cubes and strawberry flavour with neera. Aloe vera is a flavourless and translucent white soft gel with bland taste and rich in phytonutrients and electrolytes. Standard neera (SN) was prepared with neera alone (100%) and compared against experimental neera (EN) prepared with neera (87%), aloe vera cubes (10%) and strawberry extract (3%). The processed neera was packed in presterilized bottles and stored at 5 °C. Organoleptic acceptability and storage stability study were carried out every week. Physicochemical characteristics and selected nutrient content were analysed on 0th day and at the end of storage period. Overall acceptability of EN (8.5 ± 0.53) was higher than SN (8 ± 0.82) on 0th day and over different storage periods. There was a gradual decrease in the organoleptic scores of both EN and SN on storage and it was unacceptable on 56th day of storage. The sodium, potassium and vitamin C content of EN were significantly higher than SN. The TSS of SN and EN were 14 ± 0 °B/100 mL and 15.6 ± 0 °B/100 mL respectively on 0th day. Significant (p ≤ 0.01) increase in the microbial count in EN was noticed on storage.