Preservation of Sugarcane Juice Using Hurdle Technology

Sugarcane juice was subjected following treatments viz. pasteurization at 80ºC for 10 min + chemical treatments (KMS @ 150 ppm and citric acid @ 0.05%); pasteurization at 80ºC for 10 min + chemical treatments (KMS @ 150 ppm and citric acid @ 0.05%) + sterilization at 80ºC for 20 min. All the samples were packed in glass bottles, polyethylene Tetrapthelate (PET) bottles and low density polyethylene pouches (LDPE) and then irradiated at 0.25, 0.5 and 1.0 kGy and stored for 90 days at room and low temperature. On treatment moisture content, ascorbic acid, viable bacterial count and viable yeast and mold count were decreased significantly (P > 0.05) where as no significant effect was observed on reducing and total sugars in cane juice. Among the three packaging material used glass and PET was found to be at par in increasing the shelf life of sugarcane juice in comparison to LDPE pouches. On storage, ascorbic acid and total sugars were decreased significantly (P > 0.05).