Browsing by Author "Nima Jose."

Filter results by typing the first few letters
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Nata de pina production from pineapple (Ananas comosus (L.) Merr.) variety mauritius
    (Department of Postharvest Management, College of Agriculture,Vellanikkara, 2024) Nima Jose.; Maya, T
    Pineapple (Ananas comosus (L.) Merr.) is an extensively cultivated fruit in tropical and subtropical regions worldwide, serving as a key source of essential sugars, organic acids, minerals, vitamins, antioxidants, and dietary fibre that contribute significantly to human nutrition. Due to the increased demand for pineapple fruits and processed products in recent years, this sector has witnessed a substantial increase in waste generation. Inadequate postharvest management of fruits and improper handling of market rejected fruits have intensified the waste burden affecting the environmental quality. Utilisation of these wastes as substrates for the development of sustainable and innovative products facilitates a circular bioeconomy approach. Nata de pina or pineapple gel is a translucent, chewy substance produced through the bacterial fermentation of pineapple juice by Acetobacter xylinum. In this context, the present study entitled “Nata de pina production from pineapple (Ananas comosus (L.) Merr.) variety Mauritius” was conducted in the Department of Postharvest Management, College of Agriculture, Vellanikkara and Pineapple Research Station, Vazhakkulam with an objective to evaluate yield and properties of Nata de pina from different substrates of pineapple variety Mauritius. Physico- chemical properties of substrates (pineapple peel and juice) were analysed, the effect of different nitrogen sources and substrates on yield of nata de pina was assessed and nutrient profiling of nata de pina was done in this research programme. Overripe and discarded pineapple fruits were sourced from Vazhakkulam pineapple market and physico-chemical properties viz., moisture content, ascorbic acid, sugars, cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin, starch, total carbohydrates, crude fibre, dietary fibre and pectin of of juice and peel were analysed. The juice extracted from these fruits was diluted with water (1:2) supplemented sucrose (10%) was used to study the effect of nitrogen sources on the yield and physico-chemical properties of nata. The treatments studied were without addition of nitrogen source (N0), 0.5% ammonium sulphate (N1), 0.7% ammonium sulphate (N2), 10% green gram sprout extract (N3) and 10% moringa leaf extract (N4). Juice from the pulp and peel from these overripe fruits were diluted in 1:2 (S1 and S2) and 1:3 (S3 and S4) ratios for evaluating the effect of substrates on yield and physico-chemcial properties of nata. Nata de pina harvested from the optimum combination was analysed for various physico chemical and microbial quality analyses. Sensory evaluation of nata de pina was conducted using a nine-point hedonic scale and benefit cost analysis was performed. The results of physico-chemical characterisation of overripe and discarded pineapple fruits showed that pineapple juice had the highest pH (5.43) and total soluble solids (15.32) while pineapple peels had the highest acidity (2.43 %). Reducing sugars (7.89 %), non-reducing sugars (3.20 %) and total sugars (11.10 %) were the highest in pineapple juice. Pineapple peels had the highest cellulose (43.6 %), hemicellulose (19.91 %) and lignin (8.18 %) content whereas starch content was undetectable in both juice and peels. The highest total carbohydrate content (14.5 g/100 g) was observed in pineapple juice. Dietary fibre (13.97 %), total fibre content (34.2 %) and pectin (11.65 %) were also higher in pineapple peels. The maximum thickness, highest yield and weight of nata de pina was obtained from pineapple broth with addition of 0.5% ammonium sulphate (N1, 10.605 mm). The differences in acidity levels across treatments were non-significant. Assessment of impact of substrates on yield and properties of nata indicated that maximum thickness was observed in nata from pineapple juice diluted with water in 1:2 ratio (S1, 9.48 mm) which was comparable with nata from pineapple peel diluted with water in 1:2 ratio (S2, 9.27 mm). The highest nata yield was given by S2 (28.03 %). The highest TSS and pH was observed in nata produced from pineapple peel diluted with water in 1:3 ratio (S4, 14.58) and S1 (2.84) respectively. Nata from pineapple juice and peel diluted in 1:2 ratio (1.66 %) had higher acidity than substrate diluted in 1:3 ratio (0.89 %). Nata de pina obtained from pineapple peel diluted in 1:2 ratio with addition of 0.5% ammonium sulphate recorded 91.6 % moisture content, 1.28 % titratable acidity, 4.05 % crude fibre, 0.28 % dietary fibre, 5.04 mg/100 g ascorbic acid, 0.06 % total minerals, 18.13 g/100 g total carbohydrates, and 0.12 g/100 g crude protein. The total sugar content was 6.20 %, comprising 5.02 % reducing sugars and 1.18 % non- reducing sugars. Hunter color analysis showed L, a, and b values of 84, 0.63, and 7.70 respectively. Microbial analysis showed a bacterial count of 2.3 x 102 cfug-1 and yeast count 0.6 x 102 cfug-1 with no fungi detected. Sensory evaluation of nata de pina demonstrated a significant overall trend of agreement among the judges. Benefit cost analysis (BC ratio >1) indicated that nata production from overripe and discarded pineapple fruits is profitable. This research demonstrates an efficient approach for transforming pineapple waste into nutritious nata.