Utilisation of aonla and lime for development of fruit based carbonated soft drinks

Enormous fruit production and its potential are marred by colossal wastage, very low level of processing and non-availability of post-harvest infrastructure. Delay in the use of harvested food products takes away their freshness, palatability, appeal and nutritive value. The commercial viability of fruit juices in the preparation of carbonated drinks is practically limited. Carbonation of juices may also improve aroma, taste and nutritive value of the beverages. Juicy fruits like aonla and lime can be successfully transformed into drinks. Hence in the present investigation an attempt was made to develop and assess the quality of fruit based carbonated soft drinks. For developing fruit based carbonated soft drinks fruit syrup of aonla and lime with TSS 50 per cent was standardized and used in preparation of carbonated soft drinks blends in the ratio of 60:0, 30:30 and 0:60 ml. The developed blends were analyzed for nutrient composition, sensory quality, physico-chemical and microbial load. The pH, TSS (⁰Brix) and titratable acidity of blends ranged between 3.0 to 2.5, 15.70 to 20.25 and 0.256 to 0.671 respectively. The blends had a good amount of vitamin C and total sugar content. All the blends were found highly acceptable. Pure aonla drink was accepted most with highest vitamin C content (267.93 mg %). The study therefore recommends that there is a need to popularize nutritionally superior aonla based carbonated beverages as better substitute for commercial carbonated beverages.