Standardization and Preservation of Sugarcane Juice by Hurdle Technology

Preservation of sugarcane juice was examined to reduce the spoilage and to increase the shelf life of the juice using hurdle technology. The intelligent use of combinations of different preservation factors or techniques to make a product shelf-stable, to improve quality and safety of food products is known as hurdle technology. The present work focuses on preservation of the juice was carried out using potassium metabisulphite (KMS), natural preservation and mild heat treatment at different combinations under refrigeration temperature. The result showed that good quality beverage from sugarcane juice of variety Co8603 (Nayana) with satisfactory storage stability of 60 days at refrigeration packed in glass bottles was prepared from pasteurized juice at 70oC for 10 min after addition of 0.6 ml ginger, 0.3 ml lemon, 0.7 ml mint and 1.0 gm salt per 100 ml of sugarcane juice. Addition at the rate of 225 ppm of potassium metabisulfite (KMS) was found to be the best anti microbial agent. The lemon was able to lower the pH of sugarcane juice to 3.0 which gave a preservative action and ginger, mint and salt acts as flavor enhancer and inhibit the growth of micro-organisms during storage period. Potassium metabisulphite is also a known yeast and mold inhibitor and is being used widely for the preservation of foods.