APPLICATION OF SUPERCRITICAL FLUID EXTRACTEDVEGETABLE PEEL EXTRACTS AS NATURAL PRESERVATIVESIN JAMUN LEATHER

The processing of fruits and vegetables gives rise to several waste products, in the form of peels, seeds and pulps. These by-products are potential sources of health-promoting phytochemicals including phenolics, flavonoids, vitamins and minerals. There are several techniques employed in the extraction of bioactive compounds from vegetable peels; one of the green methods is the use of SFE (supercritical fluid extraction). SFE employs supercritical fluids like carbon dioxide (CO2) as the solvent for the extraction process. Food industry is searching for natural preservatives to replace synthetic ones. Supercritical fluid extracts of vegetable peels (pumpkin, turnip, and potato) were used in this study to preserve jamun leather. Treatments included L0 (leather having synthetic preservative), L1 (leather having potato+pumpkin peel extract) and L2 (leather having potato+pumpkin+turnip peel extract). At 0 day, the leather was examined for pH, titratable acidity and total soluble solids. Results of these analysis revealed that L2 was better in preserving the quality of leather. L2 also scored better in sensory evaluation for parameters like flavor, aroma, color and overall acceptability followed by L1. The results revealed that vegetable peel extracts can be used as an efficient alternative to synthetic preservatives.