Development and quality evaluation of bitter gourd- Kiwi blended squash during storage

Bitter gourd fruit (Momordica charantia L.) contains many nutraceutical compounds and possess antioxidant and hypoglycemic activity but, its utilization in foods products has not received much attention. Efforts were made to prepare antioxidant rich palatable bitter gourd based functional squash by blending bitter gourd juice with kiwi fruit (Actinidia deliciosa) juice in different ratios viz. 90:10, 80:20, 70:30, 60:40 and 50:50 using different levels of fruit part (25, 30 and 35%) and TSS (40 and 45oB) separately. Among different combinations, the squash prepared using 30% blended juice of treatment T32 (80% bitter gourd juice+20% kiwi juice) with 45oB TSS recorded highest sensory scores. The developed products were analyzed for their bio-chemical, antioxidant potential and sensory quality characteristics at different storage intervals (0,3 and 6 months). The bitter gourd- kiwi blended squash contained 44.83oB TSS, 1.25% acidity and 37.54% total sugars. Blending has increased ascorbic acid content (33%) and total phenolics (24%) of the blended beverage over bitter gourd squash. The products exhibited only slight changes in their physico-chemical, nutritional and sensory characteristics during storage, yet were shelf-stable and remained acceptable up to a period of six months. The high antioxidant potential (68.29%) of the developed product compared to the control sample revealed its health benefits.