DEVELOPMENT OF NONI FRUIT (Morinda citrifolia) READY-TO-SERVE DRINK AND ITS NUTRITIONAL PARAMETERS

Abstract

Noni (Morinda citrifolia linn) fruits are edible but they don't have nice taste and flavor but it has not come to general popular consumption like coffee and other fruit in same family due to the myth in the community as it a toxic fruit. Therefore, this is one of the very underutilized fruits in Sri Lanka. Therefore, the proposed study aimed to investigate the utilization of Noni fruits to develop Ready -To-Serve (RTS) drinks and evaluate its sensory, analysis of its Nutritional parameters. Four formulations of Noni Drink were prepared by changing the percentages of juice level (10%,13%,14%, and 15%) the control sample was formulated without incorporating Additives (sugar, citric acid, pectin and potassium sorbate). All the formulations were subjected to physicochemical analysis (pH value, moisture, ash, Titratable acidity, Brix%, and ascorbic acid), microbial analysis (Standard plate count (SPC) and Coliform), and sensory evaluation. The shelf-life of the product was studied during 30 days of the storage period by evaluating the changes in moisture content, pH value, Ascorbic acid and microbial qualities. Moreover, all the formulations exhibited acceptable limits on microbial quality parameters throughout the storage period. According to the sensory evaluation, the sample which was formulated by incorporating 15% noni juice, 12% sugar, 66% water, 4% ginger flavor and 2% mint flavor was found to be the best treatment (p < 0.05) with the highest overall acceptability of 7.5 +- 0.11a. According to the physicochemical analysis, the Noni drink sample contained 66.77c+-0.05% moisture, 0.268+-0.42% Ash, 17.00+-0.00a % Brix, 3.30 +0.00a pH, 12.64+-0.06 mg/l00ml ascorbic acid and 0.0032+-0. 0.00d Titratable acidity.