Quality and Shelf Life of Aonla (Emblica officinalis Gaertn.) Juice Stored at Divergent Temperature Regimes

Aonla is renowned for its exceptional nutritional and therapeutic properties, rich in ascorbic acid and polyphenols. Its vitamin C content often exceeds 500 mg100g-1 making it ten times higher than that of oranges. It is highly perishable and cannot be stored beyond a week at ambient temperature. In this study, juice was extracted from fresh and stored aonla fruits using a rack and cloth press, followed by heat processing at 90°C for 1 minute and subsequently pasteurized at 75-80°C for 20 minutes. The processed juice bottles were stored at ambient temperature (18-28°C, 70 % RH), zero energy cool chamber (15-18°C, 90 % RH) and cold store (5-7°C and 80-85% RH). The juice recovery was 67 % from fresh fruits and 62 % from stored fruits. Shelf-life studies revealed that juice held at ambient temperature remained marketable up to four months, whereas the juice stored in a cool chamber and cold store had shelf life beyond six months with better quality retention. The TSS and ascorbic acid declined gradually, whereas acidity, tannins, reducing, total sugars and non-enzymatic browning in aonla juice increased during storage.