Enzymatic Extraction and Value Addition of Palm Juice

Abstract

Palmyra palm (Borassus flabellifer L.) has several uses including food, beverage, fibre, medicine and timber. Being seasonal, the fruit is not available throughout the year. Proper processing and value addition of the fruit is necessary for its consumer acceptability. Various traditional products like palm jaggery, palm sugar and palm candy are prepared from the edible parts of the Palm fruit. The fruit pulp is rich in vitamins and minerals. The fruit pulp has lot of other nutritional and medicinal values. The juice of ripened palm has not been explored to its full potential for commercial use. Complex structure of the fruit may be one of the many reasons limiting pulp and juice recovery. Use of enzymes could help in extracting clear juice from the thick and fibrous pulp and can be further processed to value added products.