Influence of Pretreatments and Varieties on Biochemical Quality during Aonla (Emblica officinalis G.) Murabba Preservation

Matured aonla fruits of three cultivars namely, Kanchan, Chakaiya and NA-7 were harvested and each variety was pretreated with water (control), salt 2%, alum 2% and salt+alum 2% so that a total of twelve different treatment combinations were made before processing in to murabba. Murabba was analyzed for quality during storage for six months. TSS and total sugars increased while ascorbic acid, titrable acidity and fiber content of the aonla murabba decreased during the storage period. For most of the biochemical parameters variety, NA-7 and pretreatment salt+alum 2% proved to be promising in retaining the quality.

Variety NA-7 was best among the cultivars taken for processing and pretreatment with salt+alum @ 2% helped in minimizing astringency and maintained ascorbic acid content.