ABSTRACT
Jamun (Syzygium cumini) and aonla (Emblica officinalis) are two important medicinal plants of India, and their respective juices are used for curing number of health ailments. Juice blending is one of the methods to improve the nutritional quality of the product. Ready-to-serve (RTS) beverages were prepared by blending juices of jamun and aonla in three 70ratios (9:1, 8:2, and 7:3). Pure aonla and jamun juice were kept as control. Microbiological, biochemical, and sensory evaluations of RTS beverages were carried out at 0 day and after 3 and 6 months of storage at 12 ± 2°C. No microbial growth could be detected in any of the samples during the storage period. Among the treatments, RTS beverage prepared from jamun and aonla juices in 9:1 ratio was found to be the best on sensory score (8.72 out of 9), followed by blend in the ratio of 8:2 (8.3 out of 9). Increas-ing the aonla juice further reduced the acceptability of the RTS beverage. After 6 months of storage, the RTS beverage blend of 9:1 ratio had 15.8 °B total soluble solids (TSS), 0.27% titratable acidity, 9.18 mg/100 mL ascorbic acid, 6.17% reducing sugar, 23.15 mM/mL antioxidants (fluores-cence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) value), and 1.96 mg/100 mL anthocyanin content compared to pure jamun juice (15.8 °B TSS, 0.32% titratable acidity, 11.9 mg/100 mL ascorbic acid, 5.73% reducing sugar, 19.39 mM/mL antioxidants, and 2.29 mg/100 mL anthocyanins. The study reflected that jamun–aonla blend in the ratio of 9:1 could be stored up to 6 months with higher antioxidant level and better sensory acceptability.
