Effects of types and amounts of stabilizers on physical and sensory characteristics of cloudy ready-to-drink mulberry fruit juice

In this study, the pH of mulberry juice was optimized for high anthocyanin content and an attractive red color. Mulberry juice pH values of 2.5, 4.0, 6.0, and 8.0 were evaluated. A pH of 2.5 gave an anthocyanin content of 541.39 ± 106.43 mg of cyanidin-3-glucoside per liter, and the a* value was 14 ± 1.00. The effects of stabilizers (CMC and xanthan gum) on the physical characteristics of cloudy ready-to-drink mulberry fruit juice (via the addition of mulberry fruit pulp at a mass fraction of 5%) during storage (4°C for 1 week) were also determined using different mass fractions of the stabilizers (0.1%, 0.3%, and 0.5%). Increasing the stabilizer mass fraction increased the viscosity, turbidity, stability of turbidity, and h* value. Using xanthan gum as the stabilizer produced better results for these parameters than CMC. The type of stabilizer and its mass fraction had no effect on most sensory characteristics, including appearance, color, taste, texture, and overall acceptability (P ≥ 0.05), but did affect the odor (P ≥ 0.05). Xanthan gum stabilizer gave the juice a better odor than CMC. Cloudy mulberry juice containing 0.5% xanthan gum as the stabilizer had the highest acceptance rate among panelists (average acceptance was 6.90 ± 1.37 points) and produced no precipitate during storage.