Nutraceutical Composition of Ber (Zizyphus mauritiana Lamk.) Juice: Effect of Enzyme-Assisted Processing

Abstract

An investigation was undertaken to study the effect of pre-press maceration treatment with cell-wall degrading enzyme, pectinase, on antioxidant composition of ber juice, during 2011-2012. Enzyme-assisted processing significantly (p<0.05) improved antioxidant composition of ber juice. Ber juice extracted using pectinase had richer nutraceutical composition than in the Control. There was an overall increase of 43% in juice yield, 30% in total phenolics and 37% in total flavonoids with use of pectinase. In vitro total antioxidant activity (AOX) in ber juice was 19.58μmol Trolox/ml in Ferric Reducing Antioxidant Power (FRAP) and 13.44μmol Trolox/ml in Cupric Reducing Antioxidant Capacity (CUPRAC) assay. There was 41-65% increase in total AOX of ber juice extracted with the enzyme overstraight pressed juice. Results indicated that tailoring of the enzyme can yield antioxidant-rich juice products.