Processing and quality evaluation of blended guava watermelon squash

Abstract: Guava fruit juices are pleasant when diluted with other tropical fruit juices due to its too acidic or strongly flavoured and less coloured nature, thus blending offers the opportunity to adjust sugar and acid ratios and eliminates some defects in juice quality or nutritional attributes by proper combination ofjuices and further adjustments in ingredients. Guava-watermelon squash at different ratio (50:50, 75:25, 25:75) of pulp blending level containing 40 ^oBrix TSS and 1% of acidity were prepared with incorporation of different concentrations of xanthan gum, an exocellular polysaccharide produced by obligately aerobic bacteria Xanthomonas campestris, to investigate the effect of different ingredients on the product quality and stability during 180 days of storage. There were little changes in quality parameters, TSS, pH, titratable acidity, ascorbic acid during the storage and 0.5% w/w of xanthan gum gave stability to the product during storage. Blended guava-watermelon squash (75:25) having 0.3% of xanthan gum, 40 ^oBrix TSS, 1% acidity showed highest overall acceptability during the storage period.