Uzodinma E.O.^1,, Mbaeyi-Nwaoha I.E¹, Onwurafor E.U.¹, Chidinma Ezinne Ochulor¹

Effect of pasteurization on the quality of pineapple, watermelon and banana pulps-based smoothie flavoured with coconut milk was reported. The fruits were sorted, washed thoroughly with clean salt water, peeled, sliced and diced into small cubes, while coconut heads were processed into milk. Smoothies from blends of pineapple (P), watermelon (W) and banana (B) pulps were formulated and coconut milk (C) was added as a flavourant. The blends: PWBC1 (50:40:10:10), PWBC2 (50:10:40:10) and PWBC3 (50:30:20:10), were of different ratios with each pasteurized to obtain three more samples (A1, A2 and A3). The three non-pasteurized products served as control. Chemical, microbial and sensory analyses were carried out on all smoothie samples. Significant (p>0.05) differences did not exist in proximate composition between treatments; but within samples, moisture (65.15-73.68%), crude protein (0.45-1.08%), fat (3.04-3.34%), fibre (6.82-10.14%), ash (1.50-2.80%) and carbohydrate (14.21-18.79%) contents. All the samples had significantly (p<0.05) high proportion of vitamin C (220.49-844.71 mg 100ml^-1), pro-vitamin A (63.64-250.72 mg 100ml^-1), potassium (98.73-200.59 mg 100ml^-1) and calcium (17.79-19.10 mg 100ml^-1) contents. Pasteurization treatment gave smoothies of comparable nutritional and organoleptic properties with the conventional non-pasteurized smoothies. The pasteurized samples (A2 and A3) had higher scores in overall acceptability for the sensory attributes. With pasteurization, safe smoothie beverages prepared and consumed regularly can assist in the enhancement and sustainability of household food and nutrition security.

beverage, coconut milk, fruit pulps, pasteurization, smoothies