Exploring the nutritional and sensory potential of karonda fruit: Physicochemical properties, jam production, and quality evaluation.

Karonda is an indigenous berry fruit known for its unique sour taste and high nutritional value. The lack of awareness portrays the fruit as undervalued and neglected, despite its vast nutritional benefits. The study aimed to explore the physicochemical properties of fresh and dried karonda fruit and its application in formulating a jam product. The physicochemical parameters, including pH, acidity, reducing sugars, moisture content, ash content, and others, were analyzed for both fresh and dried fruits. The phytochemical characteristics, such as vitamin C, antioxidant activity, total phenolic content, flavonoids, and anthocyanin content, were examined. The fruit extract was also subjected to antibacterial test using the well plate method. The fresh karonda berries have the highest levels of vitamin C, total phenolic, and anthocyanin contents, which can enhance the immune system and improve overall health. Jam formulations were created using varying proportions of karonda and apple pulp. These formulations were subsequently analyzed for their physicochemical, phytochemical, and sensory quality attributes. The results indicated that the pH, moisture content, ash content, ascorbic acid content, total phenolics, total flavonoid content, and antioxidant activity of the jams fell within the acceptable range as outlined by the Codex Alimentarius. Furthermore, the inclusion of apple pulp can enhance the taste and color of the jam while preserving its nutritional value. The sensory evaluation results revealed that T3, consisting of 50% karonda and 50% apple, followed by T4, comprising 25% karonda and 75% apple, were favored in terms of taste and color. This research offers significant insights for both the food industry and consumers, emphasizing the karonda fruit's potential as a valuable source of phytochemical compounds and its possible utilization in the creation of jams and other food products. This discovery promotes the consumption of this indigenous fruit due to its nutritional value and potential health benefits.

Phytonutritional and Sensorial Assessment of a Novel Functional Beverage Formulated from an Underutilized Fruit of Carissa spinarum L.

Carissa spinarum L. belongs to the family Apocynaceae. It is a native shrub of Asia, locally known as Karonda or Karanda, and is an underutilized crop throughout the Asian region. The Karonda fruit is a rich source of vitamin C, minerals, phenolics, antioxidants, flavonoids, and other biofunctional compounds. The lack of awareness and knowledge among the community results in the wastage of fruits. Therefore, the present research was designed to formulate an easy-to-prepare beverage drink using C. spinarum fruit to evaluate the nutritional potential of the undervalued Karonda fruit. A beverage drink was formulated with three pulp concentrations: 20, 30, and 40%, each having 12, 14, and 16 °Brix, respectively. A total of nine treatments were prepared and stored for up to 10 weeks in refrigerated storage. The physicochemical parameters, such as pH, titratable acidity, vitamin C, total sugars, anthocyanin, total phenolics, flavonoids, and antioxidants, were measured at two-week intervals from 0 to 10 weeks. Additionally, a sensory assessment of the beverage was conducted. A decreasing trend in titratable acidity was exhibited among all the treatments (from treatment 1 to treatment 9), with the values decreasing from 0.815 to 0.556 as the fruit concentration increased. On the other hand, an increasing trend was observed for pH (from 3.04 to 3.37), vitamin C (from 22.2 to 31.48), reducing and non-reducing sugars, anthocyanin (from 31.95 to 110), total phenolics (from 19.86 to 32.16), flavonoids (from 0.64 to 0.77), and antioxidants (from 48.8 to 67.6) from treatment 1 to treatment 9, respectively. The sensory studies of the beverage formulations revealed that treatment 9, which consisted of a 40% fruit base and 16 °Brix, was the most acceptable for further development of the beverage at a commercial scale. This study represents a novel scientific contribution toward the utilization of the undervalued fruit of C. spinarum L. for the development of a beverage product. Ultimately, it has the potential to address food insecurity issues worldwide while offering its associated health benefits.

Bioactive, antioxidant and antimicrobial properties of chemically fingerprinted essential oils extracted from Eucalyptus globulus: in-vitro and in-silico investigations.

Innovative approaches are urgently required to treat divestating bacterial diseases in the face of rising bacterial resistance rates. The current investigative work focused on hydro-distilling Tasmanian blue gum (Eucalyptus globulus) to isolate the essential oil, which was then tested for bioactivity, antioxidant capacity, and antibacterial activity using in-vitro and in silico assays. The antioxidant activity was avualated against DPPH and FRAP. With results of 69.63 RSA (%) (µL/L AAE) at a concentration of 5 mL/L and 51.56 (µL/L AAE) at concentration of 90 ppm in the 2,20-diphenyl-1-picryl hydrazyl (DPPH) and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assays, respectively, the extracted oil indicated considerable antioxidant activity. The extracted oil demonstrated powerful antibacterial activity in in-vitro tests against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial strains, including Bordetella bronchiseptica (21 mm), Staphylococcus epidermidis (19 mm), and Staphylococcus aureus (19 mm), with significant minimal inhibitory (MIC) and minimum bactericidal (MIB) concentrations. Additionally, GC-MS analysis of the oil from E. globulus identified several low-molecular-weight compounds, including Eucalyptol, γ-Terpinene, Shisool acetate, 1,3-trans,5-cis-Octatriene, 2,6-Dimethyl-1,3,5,7-octatetraene, E,E, Cyclohexene, 1-methyl-4-(1-methylethylidene), Benzene, 1-methyl-4-(1-methylethenyl), Butanoic acid, 3-methyl-, 3-methylbutyl ester, and 1,3,8-p-Menthatriene. Several other compounds were also identified, including Fenchol, 2-Methyl-trans-3a,4,7,7a-tetrahydroindane, (E,E,E)-2,4,6-Octatriene, 1,2,3,6-Tetrahydrobenzylalcohol, acetate, Alloaromadendrene, Phenol, 2-ethyl-4,5-dimethyl, Phenol, 2-methyl-5-(1-methylethyl)-, p-Cymen-7-ol, 1,5,5-Trimethyl-6-methylene-cyclohexene, 1,3-Cyclohexadiene, 1-methyl-4-(1-methylethyl)-, 2,6-Octadien-1-ol, 3,7-dimethyl-, acetate, (Z), and more. The bioactive potential of Eucalyptus globulus essential oil against 1AJ6 and 1R4U was highlighted by molecular docking analyses, suggesting its utility as a natural source of antioxidant and antibacterial compounds with the potential to replace chemical disinfectants in a variety of applications.