Preparation and evaluation of ready-to-serve dietetic beverage from bitter gourd

Ready-to-serve dietetic beverage from bitter gourd and stevia, a non-nutritive sweetener was prepared and evaluated in the division of Post Harvest Technology (pHT), Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Jammu. The fruits of bitter gourd were peeled, washed, grated and pressed in the muslin cloth for juice extraction. Syrup was prepared separately, strained through muslin cloth, cooled and added to the calculated quantity ofjuice. RTS was prepared by mixing 5, 10 and 15 per cent of bitter gourd juice with 10, 13 and 16 per cent stevia solution (SE) in various ratios. Per cent acidity of all the treatments was maintained at 0.3% by adding citric acid. The highest TSS of 15.33 was recorded in T₀ (10% juice and 15% sugar), where as the lowest TSS of 1.044° Brix was recorded in T₈ (10% juice and 16% SE). The highest TSS-acid ratio of 50. 103 was recorded in To (JO% juice and 15% sugar). The highest total sugar content of 15.00 per cent was recorded in To (10% juice and 15%sugar) whereas T₁ (5% juice and 10% SE), had the lowest total sugar content of 0.148 per cent. The highest (12.053 mgℙ 100 ml) and the lowest (4.080 mg/100 ml) ascorbic acid content was recorded in T₃ (J5% juice and 10% SE) and T₄ (5% juice and 13% SE) respectively. Sensory evaluation of RTS beverage revealed that the highest score of 6.977 was recorded in T, (5% juice and 13% SE) and the lowest score of 6.50 was recorded in T₃ (15% juice and 10% SE).