DEVELOPMENT AND SHELF STABILITY OF FUNCTIONAL DRINK PREPARED FROM WATERMELON AND CUCUMBER

Background Cucumber is known to have countless benefits related to skin, body, and general health conditions. Watermelon juice is highly nutritious and perishable. Recent studies focus on using it with a combination of potential functional ingredients. Watermelon-Cucumber drink is a healthy combination of beverages that can provide many nutrients and health benefits.  Objectives In this study, cucumber juice was used to improve watermelon juice's nutritional profile and sensory attributes by utilizing honey as a sweetener. This study aimed to evaluate the functional drink's proximate parameters, oxidative stability, microbial load, and organoleptic evaluation. Methods Statistics was applied using Statistics 8.1, and data were analyzed using two-way ANOVA and Tukey HSD Post Hoc analysis. The functional drink was prepared using altering concentrations of cucumber juice and watermelon juice (80:10, 70:20, 60:30, 50:40) and stored at 4oC for 28 days. Results revealed that adding cucumber juice significantly improved antioxidant potential (p<0.05) up to 1.6%. The current study revealed that a non-significant effect was observed on ash contents (0.06-0.04%), total solids (0.36-0.32%), and degree Brix (8.7o-9.7o) of functional drink. Increasing concentration of cucumber juice led to an increase in titratable acidity (0.57%) while pH was decreased (3.6). Conclusions Using watermelon and cucumber juice in combinations improved the antioxidant potential of the functional drink. The organoleptic evaluation revealed that treatment with 80% watermelon juice and 10% cucumber juice was observed best in sensorial attributes.