Development of Neera powder using spray drying process

Abstract

The Coconut Palm (Cocos nucifera) is one of the most important crops grown in humid tropics, cultivated for its multiple utilities, belongs to Arecaceae family. Since most of the components of coconut palm is getting transformed to useful products, it is referred to as “Tree of life”. Neera is a delicious health drink collected from the immature unopened inflorescence of coconut palm. It is a nector like liquid having slightly alkaline pH and translucent in color. Neera is a rich source of natural sugars, minerals and vitamins and it contains substantial amounts of iron, phosphorus and ascorbic acid. The major difficulty associated with neera production is its natural fermentation. The product undergoes fermentation within 2-3 hours under ambient temperature. Thus the shelf life of the sap is identified as a major issue in the long distance transport of neera. The only solution is the development of neera powder by spray drying technology, so that it will arrest the fermentation by reducing the available water. This study mainly concentrated on development of a process protocol for spray dried neera powder, standardization of the spray drying parameters and quality analysis of neera powder. The neera used in the study was collected from two different sources, CPCRI (Kalparasa) and KAU (Keramrutham). The optimum parameters obtained for Kalparasa powder was 3.53% MD+0.353% GA as feed material combination, an inlet air temperature of 168ºC and 4.25 rpm feed flow rate. Whereas for the Keramrutham powder the obtained optimum condition is 7.58% MD+0.758% GA as feed material combination and 171.89ºC inlet air temperature with 4.82 rpm feed flow rate. The blower speed of 1200 rpm and air pressure 2kg/cm2 were kept constant for developing the products. The physico chemical characteristics such as pH, TSS, Colour, moisture content, and reconstitution properties were determined. The optimally produced products were packed, stored in retort pouches and the quality characteristics such as pH, moisture content, vitamine C, antioxidant activity and phenolic content were also analysed up to 5 months. Both powders showed good acceptance in the sensory evaluation. The cost analysis of the product was done and cost of one kilogram was estimated as Rs 2168.6/-.