Development of functional coconut water jelly by incorporating anthocyanin microcapsules and its characterization

Abstract

This research work aims for the development of a new food product (jelly) from coconut water by incorporating anthocyanin microcapsules in the jelly matrix which can effectively contribute to the health. Anthocyanin microcapsules was first prepared from black rice bran using gelatin and acacia gum as encapsulating agents at 1:1 ratio. Anthocyanin-rich microcapsules were incorporated in the coconut water jelly with different percentage (0, 1, 2 and 3%). Coconut water jelly was prepared using 60% sugar and 37% coconut water as the major ingredients and 1.8% pectin and 1.2% citric acid as minor ingredients. The developed four jellies were analyzed for their physico-chemical properties, total phenolics and anthocyanin content, antioxidant activity, microbial growth and sensory properties. Among all the jellies prepared, the highest retention of phytocompounds were found with the jelly developed using 3% anthocyanin microcapsule and also provided the highest antioxidant activity. Again, not much significant differences were observed (p ≤ 0.05) for the sensory parameters viz. taste, appearance, aroma and adhesiveness. From the microbial study, it was observed that very less visible moulds detection for all the sample within the storage period of 30 days except for the control sample which showed more visible moulds growth. It can be concluded that the jelly thus developed with loaded anthocyanin showed improved properties as compared to the control sample. The application of microcapsule in the jelly matrix has also shown to be feasible technically, providing the product which is a rich source of stable nutraceutical with addition of natural color and functionality.