Effect of Ripening on the Overall Quality of Orange Juice

Abstract

The experiment was conducted at Mekele University, Department of Food Science and Postharvest Technology to evaluate to the effect of ripening on the quality of the juice and to know the consumer acceptance of the different types of juices. To conduct the study, a total of 3 kg orange fruits which are uniform, undamaged and no symptom of infection was gathered, randomly grouped into 3 groups (4 oranges in each group) from orange trees to test the physico-chemical as well as juice quality. The first group (4 fruits) was analyzed while it is unripe. Whereas the second and third group was allowed to ripen under room temperature of 25 to 30 ^oC then analyzed when it is half-ripe, fully-ripe respectively. The sensory evaluation was carried out on the juice using 5 trained panelists who frequently use orange juice. Sensory attributes was assessed using appearance, taste, mouth feel and overall acceptability. A hedonic scale of 1-5 (5= likes very much,4=slightly very much,3=neither like nor dislike,2=dislike slightly and1=dislike very much) was used as assessment criteria. The study concludes that the stage of ripening of orange has nutritional as well as sensory implications on juice produced from it. Accordingly, full-ripe orange is preferred for producing good quality orange juice and better acceptability of by customers than juice prepared from un-ripped and partially ripped orange. Overall, the study recommends that orange fruit should be collected once fully ripe, but extra delay in the field or storage may lead to deterioration in quality due to over-ripening as well as attack by birds, insects. Such condition leads to produce with less acceptance even health risk to costumers.

Keywords: ripe, orange juice, sensory quality