Fruit juices are todays eat-on-the-run lifestyle.

These products save a lot of time

for consumers who have busy routines and are in need of a convenient means of
consuming healthy beverages that will serve as a supplement of vitamins and
antioxidants needed to replenish the body. Daily consumption of fruit juices provides us
variety of health benefits like fighting infections and diseases, boosting the immune
system, regulating blood pressure, maintaining cholesterol levels, supplying required
dosage of antioxidants and keeping the digestive system in order, but consuming
untreated juices in favor of consuming a fresh and organic product can cause serious
problem and health risks.
Unpasteurized fruit and vegetable juice are prone to cause food borne illnesses
caused by human pathogens that could have been killed if the product undergoes
pasteurization. In a statistic, in the last decade in North America, over 1,700 people
have fallen ill after consuming juice and cider. Most of these outbreaks involved
unpasteurized juices and ciders such as apple cider, orange juice, pineapple, carrot,
coconut,

cane

sugar,

banana,

acai,

lemonades

and

mixed

fruit

juices

(healthlinkbc.ca).Consumers, especially children and the elderly with weakened immune

system are in risk of suffering from serious illnesses or even death from drinking
untreated juices.
Today, most of the fruit juices in the market are produced by flash pasteurization
to eliminate the possibility of acquiring disease from unhygienic food preparation. It is
also referred to as high temperature short time pasteurization or HTST since the
process involves a high-temperature, short-time treatment in which products, such as
juices, are heated for 3 to 15 seconds to a temperature that destroys harmful

microorganisms. It is a continuous process that is energy efcient and effectively

destroys the microorganisms in beverages. In some situations, pasteurization only
reduces microbial count and does not affect nutrient content of fruit juices in a
meaningful way, which makes it a better choice than untreated juice and in par with the
latters nutritional content while it also gives an assurance of its quality. According to
the American Council on Science and Health, pasteurization may lessen the amount of
vitamin C found in juice made from citrus fruits, yet this type of juice already contains
enough vitamin C to meet the recommended daily allowance needed by the body
(Brannagan, Meg).
The emergence of pasteurized fruit juices in the market to promote safety in
consumption of juices, promotes an added source of income to the agricultural industry
as it utilize one of their products. Variety of tropical fruits have been commercialized to
fruit juices, some of these are apples, lemon and strawberries (abprocess.com). One of
the tropical fruit that can be manufactured as a fruit juice is the tamarind.
Tamarind is an exotic fruit that grows in the Philippines, Thailand and Africa. Its
scientific name is Tamarindus indica. A complete grown tree could reach up to 80 feet
high. Its pods are about five inches long and contain seeds and a pulp that become
extremely sour when dried. The main portion used in food production is the pulp of the
tamarind fruit. Because of its sweet and tangy taste, it has found ideal use in the
kitchen. The tamarind fruit is an excellent source of the B vitamins thiamine and niacin,
vitamin C, potassium, magnesium, iron, phosphorus, and fiber.

The tamarind fruits is also known for its various health benefits, one of which is
its help in preventing constipation as it augments bulk and vowel movement. Due to its
high nutritional content and abundance in local agricultural estates, it is an economical
choice to be commercialized as a treated fruit drink. It can also open up new
opportunities for farmers and small scale beverage manufacturing companies in the
local market.
The proponents aim to use the tamarind fruit and analyze its physicochemical
and microbiological properties before and after undergoing HTST pasteurization.

DEFINITION OF TERMS
Analysis. Termed in this study as the physicochemical, microbiological, and
sensory properties of tamarind juice. It is the assessment of the amount or kind of one
or more of the constituents of the fruit juice.
Coliform Count. Refers to the test of water contamination in which the number
of the colonies of coliform-bacteria Escherichia Coli per 100 mL of water is counted
(businessdictionary.com).
Commercially Available. Refers to the tamarind juice which is available in the
local market and was used in the study in the comparison of the physicochemical and
microbiological properties of the pasteurized juice.
HTST (High-Temperature Short-Time).

A method of heat pasteurization of

beverages prone to spoilage (fruit and vegetable juices). Compared with other
pasteurization process, it maintains color and flavor better. It is a process wherein

pourable products, such as juices, are heated for 3 to 15 seconds to a temperature that
eliminates pathogenic bacteria (foodsafetysite.com).
Optimization. In this study, it refers to the process of enhancing the taste of the
tamarind juice by finding the acceptable proportion of water to sugar to pulp.
Pasteurization. A partial sterilization of food (milk, cheese and fruit juices) to
provide longer shelf life and eliminate human pathogens that could cause disease. It is
a process of exposing food or beverages to an elevated temperature for a period of time
in order to kill certain microorganisms that could produce disease or cause spoilage
(dictionary.reference.com).
Pathogens. A biological agent that causes disease or illness to its host. The
term is most often used for agents that disrupt the normal physiology of a multicellular
animal or plant (sciencedaily.com).
Pectinase. Used in the preparation of fruit juices and vegetable juices in order to
increase the juice yield. Particularly in the case of berries, pectinases improve the
extraction of colorings and aromas. In this study, it is used to increase the yield of
tamarind pulp in the hot enzymatic extraction (gmo-compass.org).
pH. The equilibrium measure of hydrogen ion concentration in a juice or wine
(crcv.com.au).
Physicochemical properties. Used in this study as the physical and chemical
properties of tamarind juice (merriam-webster.com).

Plate Count. Refers to the determination of the degree of bacterial

contamination in a sample of tamarind juice (merriam-webster.com).
Sensory characteristics. Refers to the characteristics which include the
appearance, taste and aroma of tamarind juice.
Tamarind juice. A refreshing drink, prepared by mixing the right proportions of
tamarind pulp to sugar and water.
Tamarind pulp concentrate. Extracted from tamarind fruit manually with hot
enzymatic process. In this study, it refers to the extracted flesh of tamarind fruit with
water and enzyme pectinase and separated from the seeds.
Titratable Acidity. The total amount of protons available in a juice or wine, and
is expressed as g/L tartaric acid equivalent (crcv.com.au).
Total Soluble Solids. The amount of sugar, acid and other dissolved solids in a
fruit juice (crcv.com.au).