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1 Honey Amla Murabba: P a g e 40 HATAM Publishers An International Journal J. Ind. Res. Tech. 1(1), 40-45, 2011 Journal of Industrial Research & Technology Journal homepage: Preparation and quality evaluation of honey Amla Murabba Anisa M. Durrani and Sangeeta Verma Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh , India *Corresponding author, Phone: , Fax: , anisamd@gmail.com ARTICLE INFORMATION Article history Received 25 January 2011 Revised 31 March 2011 Accepted 05 April 2011 Available online 30 April 2011 Keywords Honey Amla Murabba Shelf life Sensory qualities Indian gooseberry ABSTRACT In general fruit preserves are made from matured fruit by cooking it either whole or in large pieces in a concentrated sugar solution till it becomes tender and transparent Honey is valued as a food as well as for its therapeutic attributes. Similarly, Amla is highly nutritive and richest source of vitamin C. Keeping in view the medicinal uses and nutritive properties of both these materials, Amla murabba was developed by using honey as natural sweetener in place of white sugar. The overall quality evaluation of honey murabba, packed in PET and glass jar were evaluated at different intervals for 6 months. Sensory quality scores decreased during storage and scores in glass jar packed samples were higher than in PET jar packed samples. Glass jar was found to be better packaging material as compare to PET jar with respect to changes in various physico-chemical constituents, microbiological and sensory qualities and other organoleptic score of honey amla murabba. Honey amla murabba can be preserved safely for 180 days HATAM Publishers. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction The amla (Emblica officinalis syn. Phyllanthus emblica) or Indian gooseberry is an important minor arid zone fruit and a crop of commercial significance. There is growing evidence that the humble amla berry offers nearly legendary powers in healing and preventing atherosclerosis and related cardiovascular disease (Kim and Yokozawa 2005). Kumar et al., (2005) observed that amla extract ranks near the top of the list of natural compounds most effective in preventing the atherosclerosis-triggering oxidation of LDL and other fats. Amla extracts reduces oxidant damage and scavenge free radicals while reducing blood sugar in diabetic laboratory animals (Sabu and Kuttan, 2002). It is highly nutritive and richest source of vitamin C among fruits except Barbados cherry (Asenjo, 1953). The stability of ascorbic acid and presence of astringency in amla fruit may be assigned to the presence of polyphenols or leucoanthocyanins (Sastry, 1956). The fruit is acidic, cooling, refreshing, diuretic, laxative and antiscorbutic. It is also valued as alterative and antibiotic (Ray and Majumdar, 1976). The fruit has acquired valuable therapeutic role from time immemorial. One or other parts of the amla plant could be used in treating chronic dysentery (Chopra, 1958), bronchitis, diabetes, fever, diarrhea, jaundice, dyspepsia, cough (Burkill, 1953) and in tanning and dyeing industries. The literature regarding diverse

2 Honey Amla Murabba: P a g e 41 medicinal, industrial and other applications of amla fruits have revealed several beneficial effects of amla. Amla prevents inflammatory blood cells from sticking to endothelial linings, and subsequently prevents oxidant-induced thickening of vessel walls critical first steps in the production of atherosclerosis (Yokozawa et al., 2007). Bhattacharya (2002) has observed oxidant damage following experimentally induced heart attacks in rats is entirely prevented when animals are supplemented with amla for 14 days prior to interruption of cardiac blood flow and (Anonymous, 1952; Morton, 1960; Hanif, 1966) noted marked antioxidant effect of gallic acid present in amla fruit. The fruit is used in the form of murabbas (Sethi and Anand, 1982), dried Amla, Triphala, Chayvanprash, jam, juice and pickle (Singh and Shivhare, 1999). In general fruit preserves are made from matured fruit by cooking it either whole or in large pieces in a concentrated sugar solution till it becomes tender and transparent (Lal, 1986). Some of the well known fruit preserves are those of amla, apple, bael, ber, cherry and vegetable preserve from carrot. Among these, Amla preserves, called Amla murabba is very popular in India. It is reported to posse s beneficial effects in reducing the cholesterol content of blood (Sastry, 1959) and in improving the eyesight. Amla murabba (preserve) is made by immersing pre-treated amla in concentrated sugar solution i.e. syrup. The transfer of sugar from syrup to amla and migration of moisture from amla to the syrup is driven by the osmotic pressure gradient setup between osmotic solution and the fruit. Osmotic concentration is a simultaneous moisture and solute diffusion process. Both concentration and temperature of sugar solution influence the physico-chemical properties (Pokharkar, 1997). A study was conducted by Singh et al. (1999) to investigate the effects of initial concentration (40, 50 and 60 Brix) at temperature 30, 40, and 50 0 C, respectively, of sugar solution on the physicochemical changes of amla preserve. Selected chemical constituents, viz moisture content, acidity (citric acid), ascorbic acid, non-reducing, reducing and total-sugars and total soluble solids (TSS) of the preserve were analyzed on 0,30,60,90,120,150 and 180 th day respectively. Minimum concentration of sugar solution for preparation of the preserve was found to be 60 0 Brix. The preserved samples prepared in 40 and 50 0 brix initial sugar concentration spoiled after 30 days. Results indicate that the process should be carried out at or below 40 0 C in order to minimize non-enzymatic browning and loss of ascorbic acid content of the fruits. It was further concluded that amla preserve should preferably be stored at least for 60 days before consumption. Among natural sweeteners, honey is nutritionally a high energy carbohydrate food considered to be the best source of heat and energy giving over 3200 calories/ kg. Medicinally honey is non- irritant, promotes rapid growth of healthy tissues and is useful in pruitus value, bed sores, skin and intestinal disorders etc. It quickly replenishes the energy lost in various physical activities. It can be utilized in production of various fruits and vegetable preserves in place of white sugar or jaggery. Its applications with selected fruits and vegetables of medicinal value viz. amla, carrot, chicory etc, to develop designer foods with added therapeutic properties need some basic research related to standardization of recipes, characterization of products, packaging and shelf life studies, therapeutic values etc. Keeping in view the above aspects, studies have been conducted at Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh to develop some honey based fruits and vegetables ready to eat food products including honey based amla murabba. The various quality attributes of murabba viz. physicochemical, microbial, textural and sensory characteristics, shelf life and packaging practices were investigated. The present paper describes the various physicochemical, microbiological and sensory characteristics of such amla murabba, which were preserved for 180 days at ambient conditions. Both the fresh and preserved murabba had a pleasant flavour, texture, colour, taste, juiciness and overall acceptability. It is expected that the findings of the present study will be commercially utilized by Indian food processors for increasing the regular consumption of medicinal honey and amla fruits, both as a food with additional advantage of ease in consumption, consumption as therapeutically advantageous (double plus) designer food besides as a food with variety and added taste. Such utilization of honey will also enrich employment opportunities and enhance the economy of bee keeping in India. 2. Material and Method Large size amla (varity: Banarsi) and honey were procured from the orchards of Agricultural Faculty of Aligarh Muslim University, and Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Aligarh respectively. Fruits were washed with cold water and after the damaged ones were discarded, they were properly cleaned and pricked with stainless steel fork / knife and immersed in two percent sodium chloride solution at room temperature; Concentration of the solution was increased by two percent/ day and the operation was continued for four days. Fruits were taken out form the sodium chloride solution after four days and washed thoroughly and dipped in fresh water for 1-2 days. The cleaned fruits were blanched in 1-2 % potash alum solution for 4-5 minutes or until separation of segments was observed when the fruits were hand-pressed. After the blanching, fruits were washed thoroughly to remove the traces of alum. The blanched fruits were transferred in to the honey syrup of Brix and kept in syrup for one night. Next day fruits were taken out from the syrup and the syrup was boiled.the syrup was cooled and added again with the fruits. The product was kept again for 24 hours. On third day, the process was repeated with

3 Honey Amla Murabba: P a g e 42 addition of the fruits in hot syrup and the product was kept again for two days at ambient temperature. After two days, the fruits and syrup were boiled together till syrup obtained Brix corresponding to temperature of C. The product was allowed to cool and packed in clean and sterilized dry glass and PET jars, which were stored in cool and dry place. PET plastic jars along with the glass jars were also used due to their light weight, less fragile, convenient and compactable for storage and low cost for recommendation if found suitable. Physicochemical characteristics of candy like moisture content, titratable acidity, reducing and total sugars were estimated as described by Ranganna, Total soluble solids of candy were determined by using hand refractometer. Browning index and β- carotene of candy was determined by method recommended by Srivastava, For sensory quality evaluation, sensory attributes such as color, aroma texture, taste juiciness and mouth feel of the honey amla murrabba were evaluated as recommende by Ranganna, 1994 by Hedonic rating test. The organoleptic attributes of murabba were determined on a 9 point hedonic scale rating with the help of 9 semi trained panel. The overall quality evaluations were continued for those murabba, which scored highest on organoleptic attributes. Data obtained on selected quality parameters were analyzed for mean and standard deviation and to test the significance of effect of storage period on quality parameters analysis of variance (ANOVA) was carried out and critical differences were calculated. 3. Results and Discussion The quality of a food product like Murabba includes wholesomeness, nutrition, processing yield, consistency, appearance, convenience and palatability. Furthermore the palatability may have quality attributes like colour, flavour, juiciness, texture, taste and overall acceptability. Keeping these various attributes of honey based Amla murabba, the results of present study are presented through Tables 1 to 4. Table: 1 Effect of Honey concentration on organoleptic quality parameters Process Condition Average Grades for Quality Parameters on 9 Point Scale Honey Conc. Sample Codes during murabba preparation Colour Flavour Juiciness Texture Taste O A T1 750 gm honey ± ± ± ± ± ± gm amla T gm honey ± ± ± ± ± ± gm amla T gm honey ±0.05 8±0 7.85± ± ± ± gm amla CD(5%) Table 2: Effect of storage period & packaging material on physico-chemical constituents of Honey amla Murabba (T2 sample) Storage Period (days) Parameters Packaging material Moisture Content TSS 0 Brix Acidity Brownig index Reducig Sugar Total Sugar Vitamin C mg/100g ± ± ± ± ± ± ± Glass Jar 43.81± ± ± ± ± ± ± 0.1 PET Jar 44.05± ±0 4.66± ± ± ± ± Glass Jar 45.5± ±0 3.5± ± ± ± ±0.05 PET Jar 46.7± ±0 3.65± ± ± ± ± Glass Jar 46.8± ±0 2.64± ± ± ± ±0 PET Jar 48.3±0.1 52±0 2.64± ± ± ± ± Glass Jar 48.1±0.1 52±0 1.83± ± ± ± ±0.2 PET Jar 49.8±0.1 51±0 1.86± ± ± ± ± Glass Jar 50.4±0.1 50±0 1.0±0 0.08±0 32.2± ± ±0.1 PET Jar 52.2± ±0 1.1± ± ± ± ± Glass Jar 52.2± ±0 0.65± ± ± ± ±0.1 PET Jar 56.5±0.5 44±0 0.64± ± ± ± ±0.05

4 Storage period ( Days) Packaging material TPC (log cfu/g) Y&M count (log cfu/g) Coliform count (log cfu/g) Honey Amla Murabba: P a g e 43 Table 3: Effect of storage period and packaging material on Microbiological quality of honey amla murabba parameters 0 ND ND ND 30 Glass jar ND ND ND PET jar ND ND ND 60 Glass jar TFTC TFTC ND PET jar TFTC TFTC ND 90 Glass jar TFTC TFTC ND PET jar TFTC TFTC ND 120 Glass jar 2.76± ±0.18 ND PET jar 3.71± ±0.07 ND 150 Glass jar 3.57± ±0.11 ND PET jar 4.58± ±0.06 ND 180 Glass jar 4.71± ±0.07 ND PET jar 4.90± ±0.05 ND * ND Not Detected, ** TFTC Too few to count Table 1 shows the effect of honey concentration on various organoleptic characteristics of fresh amla murabba. The overall effect of honey concentration on colour of murabba was found to be significant. The average colour score values of sample T1 did not differ significantly to that of T3 sample but the score values of T2 sample were found to be significantly higher as compare to T1 and T3 samples. In case of flavour, the average score for T1 differed significantly to that of T2 and T3 while there was insignificant difference if flavour score of samples T2 and T3. However, the highest flavour score was awarded to T2 sample. Highest score of 7.95 was awarded to sample T2 for its juiciness. However there was insignificant effect of honey concentration on the juiciness of honey based amla murabba. Similarly highest score for sensory texture was also awarded to T2 sample in comparison to other samples. There was no significant effect of honey concentration on texture of murabba in case of samples T1 and T3 but the score for T2 sample was significantly higher as compared to other samples. The effect of honey concentration on taste of honey-amla murabba was significant. However, in this case also T2 sample scored highest over other two samples. There was insignificant effect of honey concentration on overall-acceptability of honey amla murabba. Though in this case also sample T2 scored highest over other two samples. The above results indicated that sample T2 prepared by incorporating 1000 gm honey in equal rate of amla was the most preferred murabba.thus the over all quality evaluation were continued for sample T2 which scored highest on oranoleptic attributes. Tandon et.al, 2006 have also developed an aonla murabba substitute which is reported to posses better nutritive properties and is easy to consume and convenient to eat. They revealed that depending upon the variety of amla fruits vitamin C content is reported to be highest (144mg/100g) in the segments of NA-6 aonla fruits. Table 2 presents the physico chemical composition of T2 sample both in fresh condition as well as after 180 days storage in glass jar and PET jar preserve at ambient condition. The fresh murabba had 48.3% moisture content which initially decreased and after 30 days of storage the moisture content of this product started increasing with enhancement of storage period. Maximum moisture content of 52.2% in glass jar and 56.5% in PET jar was noted on 180 th day of storage showing overall increase respectively by 3.87 and 8.2% during entire period of storage. The increase in moisture content after 30 th day of storage was gradual but significant and in all cases the moisture content values of samples packed in PET jars were significantly higher than corresponding value in glass jar. This is obvious as glass jar has better water barrier properties in comparison to PET jar. Honey being hygroscopic in nature absorbs moisture from air which may be the reason for increase moisture content of preserve during 180 days of storage. However, the initial decrease in moisture content could not be explained. These results are contrary to the findings in relation to moisture content ofamla preserve prepared in sugar syrup which was reported to be 65% at 60 0 Brix and which decreased with increase in period of storage as reported by Singh et.al, (1999) and Tripathi et.al, (1988). Though this aspect needs more detailed studies, the reason for higher moisture content of honey based murabba may be the higher value of moisture content of honey itself which ranges between 20 to 21% depending upon the climate. Thus value of moisture content changes during storage may be due to hygroscopic nature of honey. The TSS of murabba 52.5% in fresh condition which increased initially and decreased to 48 and 44% in case of packaging in glass and PET jars on 180 th day of storage at ambient temperatures. The packaging material significantly affected the TSS during 90 days to 180 days of storage at ambient temperature of honey Aonla preserve. The level of temperature during storage and processing is expected to significantly affect the TSS value. The overall decrease in TSS may be attributed to increase in moisture content of preserve and impregnation of honey into preserve. This finding is contrary to the findings of (Singh, 1999; and Tripathi, 1988). There was significant and remarkable reduction in acidity of murabba during 180 days storage. The acidity reduced from 6.05 % in fresh condition to 0.65% and 0.64% in glass and pet jars respectively after 180 days storage. (Singh, 1999; and Tripathi, 1988) have also reported loss of acidity in amla preserve during storage. Singh et. al, (1999) had also reported that acidity of amla preserve decreased with time at any given concentration and temperature of sugar solution. It was reported by them that the rate constant

5 Honey Amla Murabba: P a g e 44 (a measure of the variation at which a particular constituent varies with time) for acidity increased appreciably when temperature was increased from 30 to 40 C but remained practically unchanged from 40 to 50 C i.e. the rate of loss of acidity increased with temperature reaching to its maximum at 40 C and remained constant. The browning index of fresh honey amla preserve was which gradually increased with increase in storage period. The effect of storage was significant in case of reducing and total sugar, though the effect of packaging material was insignificant. The reducing sugar and total sugar increased from respectively 27.3% and 50.4 % in fresh condition to % and % in preserved condition. However, there was significant reduction in ascorbic acid content of murabba due to storage for 180 days. While the fresh murabba had mg/100g ascorbic acid, its value reduced to respectively mg/100 g and mg/100g in glass and pet jars. Vitamin C content of samples packed in PET jar were slightly lower than corresponding values in glass jar. The effect of packaging material on vitamin C content of preserve was significant after 30 days of storage itself. These observations are in confirmation to results of Singh et.al,(1999) and Tripathi et.al, (1988).Table 3 presents the data related to microbiological characteristics of developed honey aonla Murabba. From this Table it may be noted that no microorganisms were detected in fresh samples. During first 90 days storage of samples packed in glass and PET jars and stored at ambient temperature also the microorganisms were either not detected or were too few to count. After 120 days storage only the presence of microorganisms were noted.. The TPC on 120 th day of storage was 2.76 and 3.71 log cfu/g in glass and PET jars. These counts increased significantly up to maximum 4.71 log cfu/g in glass jar and up to 4.90 log cfu/g in PET jar on storage of samples for 180 days at ambient temperature. Similarly the Y & M count were respectively 2.42 and 3.20(± 0.07) log cfu/g in samples packed in glass and PET jars on 120 th day of storage. These counts also significantly increased up to maximum values of 4.76 log cfu/g in glass jar and up to 4.96 log cfu/g in PET jar on 180 th day of storage. However, in both cases the values of TPC and Y & M counts were within safe limit for human consumption. The glass jar proved better packaging material over PKT jar in view of lower microbial counts in samples packed in it. No coliform count could be detected during 180 days storage. Sensory quality scores decreased during storage and scores in glass jar packed samples were higher than in PET jar packed samples (Table 4). Fresh honey aonla murabba had an overall higher average value for all sensory characteristics as compared to preserved aonla segments (Tandon, 2006). Conclusion Honey amla murabba of good organoleptic, microbiological and physico-chemical characteristics can be developed with better nutritional and therapeutic characteristics. Such honey amla murabba can also be safely preserved for 180 days at ambient conditions. Glass jar was found to be better packaging material as compare to PET jar with respect to changes (decrease) in various organoleptic score of honey amla murabba. By using these simple scientific techniques, judicious processing of fruit aonla will not only open new dimensions for establishing commercial processing industries in the form of value added products but will also provide health benefits to the consumers. References Anonymous. (1952). The Wealth of India, - A dictionary of Indian raw materials and industrial products. CSIR, New Delhi: Vol III Asenjo, C. F. (1953). 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