Storage Behavior of Juice Prepared from Nagpur Mandarin Orange (Citrus reticulata)

The present investigation was carried out during 2015–2016 at Post Harvest Technology Centre, Department of Horticulture, Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth, Rahuri. The storage behavior of juice extracted by screw type pulper using different preservative levels packed in different packaging materials and stored at ambient and cold storage was studied. The data regarding chemical composition revealed that there was increase in TSS, acidity, total sugars, reducing sugars while pH, ascorbic acid, decreased in all treatment combination of juice during 180d of storage. The sensory scores viz., colour, flavour, taste and overall acceptability of juice during 180d of storage was decreased in all treatment combination. The microbial quality viz., yeast and mould count were found to be increased during 180d of storage. The microbial growth was observed within acceptable level in all treatment combination of juice stored in cold storage and 350 ppm sodium benzoate treated juice packed in glass bottle stored in ambient conditions (T7). The Nagpur mandarin juice could be stored for 180d at cold storage (5±2°C) by using 350ppm sodium benzoate packed in glass bottles (T16, S2P3B1) followed by juice packed in PET bottles (T17, S2P3B2) was found to be superior in respect of chemical composition, sensory evolution and microbial quality.