Deodorization of noni juice using rotary evaporation and its sensory and chemical properties in pineapple juice blends

Juice from noni fruit, Morinda citrifolia, has multiple health benefits but the unpleasant odors of raw juice limits consumer adoption. The two-step process of deodorizing noni juice by rotary evaporation (rotovap) followed by mixing with pineapple juice produces a beverage that has a less off-putting odor and is more palatable. Analysis of total soluble solids and titratable acidity confirms that pineapple juice sweetens the taste profile. Sensory evaluation by trained panelists found that 80% pineapple with 20% rotovap (20 RVN) received higher scores for both sweetness and freshness than 80% pineapple and 20% original noni juice (20 OGN) highlighting the impact of noni juice volatiles on these organoleptic qualities. Noni juice volatiles were further investigated using dynamic headspace sampling (HS) coupled to gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC-MS) with principal component analysis (PCA) of volatile profiles. These analyses show that total volatiles decreased in rotovap treated juices, pineapple juice and pineapple/noni juice mixtures grouped more closely while untreated (OGN) and the water fraction removed by rotovap were strongly associated. Together these results suggest that treatment by rotovap removes unpleasant odors from noni juice and mixture with pineapple juice produces a sweeter, fresher, more palatable beverage potentially suitable for the consumer market.