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Abstract
Banana is a highly nutritious fruit that can be used for production of various novel foods. Although economical, its limited shelf life hinders the storage of pulp for processing purposes. Chemical (0.1 and 0.1% KMS), thermal (65 °C for 30 min) and a combination of both thermal & chemical treatment was applied to freshly prepared banana pulp and various quality parameters of treated as well as untreated (control) pulp were studied for a storage period of 90 days. All the studied parameters viz; acidity, pH, TSS, reducing and non-reducing sugars varied significantly with different treatments during storage. Color, PPO activity and antioxidant properties (DPPH, ABTS and total phenolic content) were also determined. Chemically treated pulp showed highest values of total phenolic content (0.96–0.44 mg GAE/g dfw) but lowest DPPH (IC50 = 4.42–32.42 mg/ml) and ABTS (IC50 = 3.15–21.37 mg/ml) values. Although lowest values of PPO activity (158.65 units) was seen in samples that were subjected to dual (chemical and thermal) treatment, however lowest change in color index (1.09–58.49) among all the samples during storage was seen in chemically treated samples. Dual treatment was more showed lesser total plate count than samples that were heat or chemically treated samples. All treatments resulted in improved sensory attributes during storage and prolonged the shelf life of samples in comparison to control. Chemical treatment was most effective in preserving quality parameters viz; color and antioxidant activity but samples treated with a combination of thermal and chemical treatment could be stored for longer period without deterioration than rest of the samples.