Studies on the preparation of low alcoholic naturally carbonated blended beverage from guava and lemon

A pure yeast isolate Clavispora lusitaniae from whey beverage, phenotypically and molecularly characterized, was used to develop a reliable, controllable and reproducible technology for preparation of low alcoholic naturally carbonated beverage from guava var. Allahabad Safeda, Lucknow-49, Punjab Pink and its blends with lemon var. Baramasi under optimized fermentation conditions. The specific growth rate (h -1 ) and generation time (h) of yeast in guava: lemon (1:1) beverage was 0.35 and 1.93 respectively. The physicochemical and microbiological characteristics of Allahabad Safeda-Baramasi (1:1) beverage were juice 12.5%, TSS 12.1 0 B, pH 2.6, acidity 0.51%, ascorbic acid 9.02 mg/100ml, alcohol ( %v/v) 0.85,CO2 1.55 bar and total plate count 15x10 9 cfu/ml ,Lucknow-49Baramasi (1:1) beverage were juice 12.5%, TSS 11.9 0 B, pH 2.6, acidity 0.52%, ascorbic acid 8.4 mg/100ml, alcohol ( %v/v) 0.82,CO2 1.50 bar and total plate count 25x10 9 cfu/ml and Punjab PinkBaramasi were juice 12.5%, TSS 12.1 0 B, pH 2.6, acidity 0.50%, ascorbic acid 10.2 mg/100ml, alcohol ( %v/v) 0.81,CO2 1.50 bar and total plate count 85x10 8 cfu/ml with a shelf life of 90 days under refrigerated conditions (4 0 C ). The beverage scored ‘liked very much’ to ‘liked moderatly’ due to naturally produced CO2 during fermentation that added effervescence, sparkle and tangy taste to the beverage. The optimized temperature and potassium metabisulphite concentration to inhibit the left over yeast culture was standardized as 55 0 C for 5 min and 700ppm respectively, but organoleptically heat treated beverage was superior than potassium metabisulphite treated beverage.