Physicochemical Properties of the Josapine Variety of Pineapple Fruit

Abstract

Several parameters related to the physicochemical properties of Josapine pineapple juice, such as moisture content, total soluble solids (TSS), pH, color, water activity, freezing point, sugar content and acidity, were evaluated over a week of ambient storage at 25oC and 52% RH. The results indicated that Josapine pineapples take about 11 days to progress from maturity stage 1 to stage 7. The moisture content of fruit increased from 93.5% wb to 95.1% wb over the 11 days period. Analysis on the color of the juice showed the color space coordinate parameter b varies between 9.11 to 15.8, parameter a increased from –3.33 to –3.68 and the 'L' value decreased from 39.46 to 38.7 at the initial ripening stage but increased to 40.9 in the later stages. The TSS increased at the early ripening stage but decreased toward the end of ripening period. Freezing point, water activity and pH of juice range were –2.77 to – 2.90 oC, 0.988 to 0.997 and 3.81 to 4.10 respectively. The total sugar and acidity in juice range were 12.5 to 17% and 0.69 to 0.90% respectively. The TSS/acid ratio of juice range was 12.32 to 18.60. The data presented in this work demonstrate the relationship between physicochemical properties of Josapine pineapples and the ripening process.