Effect of Storage on Chemical Composition and Microbial Count of Carbonated Ready to Serve (RTS) Beverage from Jamun (Syzygium cumini L.)

The experiment was undertaken at Fruit and Vegetable Processing Unit of College of Horticulture, Dr. Balasaheb Sawant Konkan Krishi Vidyapeeth, Dapoli, Dist-Ratnagiri (Maharashtra State) during the period of May 2023 to January 2024. This study aims to evaluate the effects of carbonation levels and juice-sugar percentage on chemical composition and microbial count of carbonated jamun beverages during storage. Now-a-days there is increase in demand for health-conscious products, driven by evolving consumer preferences and increasing awareness regarding the impact of diet on health. Synthetic drinks which are more popular commercially, are not so healthy or nutritive. So, considering medicinal and nutritive properties of jamun the experiment was undertaken. The experiment was carried out in Factorial Completely Randomized Design (FCRD) with two factors having sixteen treatment combination replicated thrice which consisting of four carbonation levels viz. C1- 40 psi, C2-50 psi, C3-60 psi and C4-70 psi and four juice-sugar levels percentage viz. J1- jamun juice 25% + sugar 75%, J2- jamun juice 30% + sugar 70%, J3- jamun juice 35% + sugar 65% and J4- jamun juice 40% + sugar 60%. From the study it was found that during six months of storage of carbonated RTS beverage from jamun, Total Soluble Solids (TSS), reducing sugars, total sugars and titratable acidity increased from 14.00 to14.68oBrix, 2.34 to 6.37 per cent, 10.19 to 10.98 per cent, 0.20 to 0.33 per cent, respectively whereas pH and anthocyanin decreased from 2.31 to 2.23 and 5.68 to 3.62 mg/100 ml, respectively. During six months of storage, microbial count like fungal and bacterial count increased slightly from 0.00 to 0.15 x 10-4 CFU/ml and 0.00 to 0.11 x 10-4 CFU/ml, respectively.