Vol. 11, Special Issue 6 (2022)

Author(s):
Neekshitha Shetty, KB Munishamanna, Lohith Kumar N and Suvarna VC

Abstract:
Banana pseudostem is an agriculture residue which is considered as absolute waste after harvest of the fruit. Edible pseudostem core is highly nutritious and known to have many health benefits, however, they are underutilized. By considering the importance of underutilized banana pseudostem core could be a good option for exploitation into fermented beverages. Hence this study aimed at developing yeast (Saccharomyces ellipsoideus, NCIM-3200) and lactic acid bacteria (Lactobacillus plantarum, MTCC 6161) fermented beverages from banana pseudostem core juice enriched with honey (5%) and liquid whey (10%). Results revealed that yeast fermented pseudo-stem core juice blended with 5% honey showed more reduction in terms of pH (4.12), TSS (5.33 ^oBrix) and total sugar (7.16%) with highest production of alcohol (7.05%) and highest sensory score value with respect to overall acceptability (16.00/ 20.00) compared to other yeast fermented treatments. LAB fermented pseudo-stem core juice blended with 10% whey showed moderate reduction in pH (3.61), TSS (12.98 ^oBrix) with optimum titrable acidity (0.76%) and highest lactic acid bacterial population (2.8x10⁷ cfu/ml) and highest sensory score value with respect to overall acceptability (16.50/20.00) compared to other LAB fermented treatments. Shelf life and quality of selected two beverages wereas assessed at ambient and refrigerated temperature for 60 days. Results indicated that quality of yeast fermented beverage remained same upto 60 days of storage whereas LAB fermented beverage deteriorated after 7 days and 30 days under ambient and refrigerated temperature respectively.