Investigation of the Effects of Eucalyptus Extracts on Shelf-Life of Passion Fruit Juice

This study was aimed to assess the effects of eucalyptus extracts on the shelf life of passion fruit juice. The pressing and the hydro-distillation approaches were performed to obtain the passion fruit juice and the eucalyptus extracts, respectively. A mixture of passion fruit juice and eucalyptus extracts at different concentrations (0, 10, 20, 30, and 40%) were stored at ambient temperature for 18 days. The yeast and molds (YM), total coliform (TC), and growth of total viable count (TVC) were evaluated every 3 days. Compared to the control group, all treatment groups with eucalyptus extracts inhibited microbial growth and the inhibition increased as time elapsed. Obviously, after 3 days, 40% concentration was significantly inhibited colon-forming of YM, TC, and TVC by 100, 58.3 and 100%, respectively. Diversely, 10% concentrations inhibited their growth by 7.9, 5.3, and 31.5%, respectively. However, On the 18th day, no microorganism colonies formed except for TVC at a concentration of 10% with an inhibition of 42.2%. This approach can be an efficient method for preserving passion fruit juice, thereby exacerbating the growth of microorganisms.