Utilization of custard apple pulp for preparation of blended nectar

Present study was intended to study the feasibility of utilizing custard apple pulp for preparing blended nectar beverage by blending custard apple pulp with lime juice, Kinnow mandarin juice, Nagpur mandarin juice and strawberry pulp in ratios of 100: 0, 75: 25 and 50: 50, keeping 20 per cent pulp/juice, 17°B TSS and 0.3 per cent acidity. The homogenized blended nectars were flled into pre-sterilized glass bottles of 200 ml capacity, pasteurized at 85° C for 30 min, cooled and stored at ambient temperature for three months. The nectar was subjected to physico-chemical, microbial and sensory analysis at monthly interval. The results indicated that the TSS, acidity, total and reducing sugar contents increased, while ascorbic acid and phenol content of the nectar decreased during the storage. The prepared nectars had negligible microbial count initially, which slightly increased during the storage. Custard apple blended with strawberry pulp in 50: 50 ratio had the highest sensory scores of 7.87, 8.02 and 7.88 for colour, aroma and overall acceptability, respectively, and second highest score of 7.83 for taste.