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A. EKANAYAKE, J. J. Kester, and J. Li. Miami Valley Lab., Procter & Gamble Co., 11810 E. Miami River Rd., Cincinnati, OH 45252 Luo han guo (Siraitia grosvenori) is an intensely sweet fruit grown and traditionally processed in Guanxii province, China. An intensely sweet fruit juice with no objectionable flavors or odors, suitable for use as part of a mixed juice composition is now commercially available. Currently, luo han guo is dried over smoke, boxed as intact fruit, and sold. Traditionally used as a medicinal fruit, teas prepared by infusing the dried fruit in hot water are used to treat sore throats and colds. The ripened fruit has yellow streaks and has a slight fruity odor. On crushing the fruit, an initial sweet, fruity smell results which is quickly replaced by a strong vegetable-like odor. This is due to the presence of a heat-stable lipoxygenase enzyme as shown by analysis of the resulting odor compounds. Composition of luo han guo juice is similar to most other fruit juices, except for the presence of mannitol and the intensely sweet mogrosides, which are triterpene glycosides. In the new process, the washed, mashed fruit is blanched in acidified water for an extended time of about 45 min to ensure destruction of the lipoxygenase. The resulting juice is treated with a pectinase enzyme to depectinize the first juice and to precipitate the pectin-bound proteins. The residue is re-extracted with warm water containing a pectinase enzyme to increase the juice solids yield. The pooled dilute juice is heated to boiling for about 30 min to ensure the precipitation of residual proteins. It is then subject to two filtration steps before low-temperature evaporation to yield a 60º Brix concentrate. When used at about 1º Brix in an acidified mixed juice matrix, luo han guo juice can replace the equivalent of about 8 to 10º Brix in terms of sucrose sweetness. This natural ingredient can offer a very attractive low sugar and calorie formulation option for juice-based products in the food industry.
Session 3, NEW PRODUCTS & TECHNOLOGIES: Innovations in nutritional ingredients and food processing
2005 IFT Annual Meeting, July 15-20 - New Orleans, Louisiana |