Effect of chemical preservation over thermal processing on storage stability of tomato juice

The present investigation was carried out to study the effect of chemical treatments and storage on physicochemical, phytochemical compounds and antioxidant activity of tomato juice. Potassium metabisulfite, Sodium benzoate and their combination was used as chemical additives. Thermal treatment lead to the destruction of phytochemical nutrients and antioxidant activity. Non-significant (p≤0.05) decrease was found for physicochemical parameters and antioxidant activity. Out of chemical additives, Potassium Metabisulfite treated samples were found to retain the maximum nutritional quality and antioxidant activity at the end of storage period of six months. There was significant increase in the shelf stability of the chemically preserved juices than the thermally treated samples.