Preparation and properties of herbal extract blended pineapple Ready To Serve (RTS)

Abstract

Aqueous extracts of ginger, cumin, lemongrass, mint and holy basil were blended to Pineapple Ready To Serve (RTS) beverages at 5%, 10%, 15% and 20% concentrations and quality parameters and sensory attributes of the products were analyzed. RTS blended with 5% extracts had the highest TSS, titratable acidity and preferable pH. T5 (5 % Cumin extract) recorded the highest TSS (13.2 º Brix) and acidity (0.20 %).  The colour indices showed that, the normal light yellow colour of the pineapple RTS had changed to various grades of greenish yellow to brownish yellow by the addition of the herbal extracts at different concentration. In the sensory evaluation, T10 (10 % Lemon grass extract) recorded the highest overall acceptance followed by T9 (5 % Lemon grass extract) and T5 (5 % Cumin extract).  Addition of cumin and lemon grass extracts at lower concentration to Pineapple RTS can form a novel beverage with improved physicochemical properties and consumer acceptance.