Development of Cucumber Fermented Beverage using Response Surface Methodology

Cucumber is valued for its nutritive and medicinal properties. The optimization of the fermentation process with reference to yeast concentration and the period of fermentation has been attempted by using Response Surface Methodology (RSM) for its value addition. The statistical design suggested 13 formulations, with the yeast concentration ranging from 0.29–1.70% and the fermentation process period varied from 0.17–5.82 days. The responses such as acidity, pH, Brix, ascorbic acid, and sensory quality attributes were studied. Overall the fermentation time and yeast concentration were optimized with 1.3% yeast concentration and 1 day fermentation time for preparation of fermented beverage. The optimized results were acidity (%) 0.25, pH 3.56, Brix° 22.7, Vitamin-C 5.28 mg/100ml. The product gave a score of sensory evaluation for more than 8 in various attributes.