Physical Characterization and Optimization of Blanching Process of Moringa Oleifera (var. PKM-1) Pods

Physical Characterization and Optimization of Blanching Process of Moringa Oleifera (var. PKM-1) Pods

Amee Ravani, S V Anadani, R R Gajera and R V Prasad

1College of Food Processing Technology and Bioenergy, Anand Agricultural University, Anand, GUJARAT
2College of Horticulture, Anand Agricultural University, Anand, GUJARAT
Keywords: Moringa oleifera, moringa pods, physical characteristics, edible index, blanching, peroxidase
DOI: 10.37273/chesci.cs20510114 • PDF


Abstract

The present project was undertaken to study preliminary aspects of Moringa oleifera pods. The aim was to utilize moringa pods for commercial value added products. Moringa pods of different maturity levels were analyzed for physical characteristics. Moringa pods were evaluated for the pod mass, pulp and peel percent, pulp to peel ratio, edible index, waste index, pod diameter, pod length, number of seeds per pod and hardness. Hot water blanching of moringa pod pieces of different sizes were carried out at selected temperatures. The most effective water blanching was noticed at 95°C with 64 mm pod length where peroxidase inactivation time was 9.41 min and pulp yield was 40.67%.


References

  1. Anwar F., Latif S., Asharf M. and Gilani A H. Moringa oleifera: A food plant with multiple medicinal uses, Phytotherapy Research. 2007, 21:17-25.
  2. Ramachandran, C., Peter, K., & Gopalakrishnan, P. Moringa (Moringa oleifera): A multipurpose indian vegetable, Economic Botany. 1980, 34(3), 276-283.
  3. Vijay Kumar, Rubha M., Manivasagan M., Ramesh Babu N. and Balaji P. Moringa oleifera-The nature’s gift, Universal Journal of Environmental Research and Technology. 2012, 2(4), 203-209.
  4. Johnson, B. Clinical perspectives on the health effects of Moringa oleifera: A promising adjunct for balanced nutrition and better health, KOS Health Publications. 2005, 1-5.
  5. Xiao H W., Pan Z., Deng L., Mashad H., Yang X., Mujumdar A., Gao Z. and Zhang Q. Recent developments and trends in thermal blanching – A comprehensive review, Information Processing in Agriculture. 2017, 4(2): 101-127.
  6. Sudagar I., Kailappan R., and Aruna, P. Properties of chewable size Moringa pods. A national level symposium on sustainable food systems for food security and nutrition. Agricultural Engineering College and Research Institute, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore. 2013.
  7. Muftugil N. The peroxidase enzyme activity of some vegetables and its resistance to heat. Journal of Science of Food & Agriculture. 1985, 36(9): 877-880.
  8. Ranganna S. Handbook of analysis and quality control for fruit and vegetable products. Tata McGraw Hill Education Private Limited, New Delhi. 1986.
  9. Foidl N., Makkar H. and Becker K. The potential of Moringa oleifera for agricultural and industrial Uses. In Lowell, J., & Fuglie, C. The miracle tree: The multiple uses (Eds.), (pp. 45–76). Wageningen, the Netherlands, 2001.
  10. Santoshkumar, G. Choudhury, D. Bharadwaj, J. and Gupta V. Minimal descriptors for moringa (Moringa oleifera Lam.) – An underutilized vegetable crop. International Journal of Plant Research. 2013, 26(2): 335-343.
  11. Resmi D., Celine V, and Rajamony L. Variability among moringa (Moringa oleifera Lam.) accessions from central and southern Kerala, Journal of Tropical Agriculture. 2005, 43(1-2): 83-85.
  12. Gajera R., Joshi D. and Akbari S. Optimization of blanching process for bottle gourds. Elixir Food Science. 2014, 66: 20663-20667.