Shelf life enhancement and associated quality and sensory changes on refrigerated storage of tender coconut water subjected to non-thermal microfiltration and treated with additives.

Evaluation of tender coconut water was done that was subjected to a nonthermal two stage microfiltration process that involved filtration through 0.8 µm and 0.45 µm pore size filters followed by addition of 200 mg/L citric acid, 180 mg/L ascorbic acid, orange honey at 5% (w/v) followed by packaging in glass bottles with headspace flushed with nitrogen. The effect of storage under refrigeration was studied. Microfiltration reduced the total simple sugars, protein and reducing sugars respectively by 13.4, 13.0 and 21.5% without significantly affecting the overall acceptability. Microfiltered samples did not show any signs of haemolytic activity. Addition of citric acid, ascorbic acid and honey was able to reduce activity of polyphenol oxidase and peroxidase and maintain product stability. Even though microfiltered samples were sterile for 190 days, the samples were acceptable for sensory attributes till day 90 of storage. Microfiltration and use of additives were thus found to increase the shelf life of tender coconut water.