Sugarcane blanching at specific temperature and time combination preserves juice physio-biochemical, microbial and sensory attributes

Fresh sugarcane juice packed with sugars, minerals, phytonutrients, antioxidants and proteins is vulnerable to quality losses caused by enzymatic inversion, chemical interactions and microbiological intrusions. Three temperatures (70, 80 and 90 degrees C) and four time interval combinations (5, 10, 15 and 20 min) were used to thermally blanch sugarcane billets for comparing the effects on physio-biochemical, microbiological and sensory properties of juice recovered. The optimum and acceptable combination determined was 90 degrees C for 10 min. The physio-biochemical parameters vis a vis pH (5.03), titratable acidity (0.198%), electrical conductivity (4.77 mScm(-1)), total soluble solids (20.67 degrees B), sucrose (18.19%), reducing sugar (0.38%), total plate count (4.42 cfu ml(-1)), residual PPO activity (12.21%) and colour (L*, b*, chroma) along with sensory profile was most acceptable. A 9-point hedonic ratings of blanched SCJ retained appearance (9), taste (9), aroma (8.8) and quantitative descriptive analysis showed a close resemblance with fresh sugarcane juice.