Evaluation of Nutrient Composition, Physicochemical and Sensory Properties of Mixed Fruit Juice Produced from Shaddock (Citrus maxima), Watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) and Pawpaw (Carica papaya) Blends

The study was carried out to evaluate the effect of addition of watermelon and pawpaw juices on the proximate, mineral, vitamin, physicochemical and sensory properties of shaddock-based mixed fruit juice samples. The shaddock, watermelon and pawpaw juices were blended in the varied ratios of 100:0:0, 90:5:5, 80:10:10, 70:15:15, 60:20:20 and 50:25:25, respectively to produce mixed fruit juice samples, while the sample prepared from 100% shaddock juice was used as control. The mixed fruit juice samples produced were analysed for proximate, mineral, vitamin, physicochemical and sensory properties using standard methods. The proximate composition of the mixed fruit juice samples were 78.34 to 85.50% moisture, 1.11 to 1.37% ash, 0.28 to 0.40% crude fibre, 0.10 to 0.29% fat, 1.05 to 1.18% protein, 10.71 to 18.67% carbohydrate and 50.46 to 81.81KJ/100g energy. The mineral composition showed that the mixed fruit juices had a range of 13.26 to 37.77mg/100g calcium, 18.89 to 54.71mg/100g magnesium, 21.11 to 47.36mg/100g phosphorus, 12.67 to 44.22mg/100g potassium, 2.15 to 2.68mg/100g iron and 1.42 to 2.05mg/100g zinc. The vitamin composition also showed that the thiamine, niacin, riboflavin, vitamin A and ascorbic acid contents of the samples ranged from 2.36 to 3.57mg/100g, 2.14 to 3.56mg/100g, 1.21 to 2.76 mg/100g, 2.33 to 3.77mg/100g and 4.55 to 5.22mg/100g, respectively. Results showed that the ash, crude protein, carbohydrate, energy, mineral and vitamin contents of the mixed fruit juice samples produced from the composite blends increased with increase in the addition of watermelon and pawpaw juices to the products. The physicochemical properties of the mixed fruit juices revealed that the pH, titratable acidity, total soluble solids and viscosity ranged from 3.04 to 4.17, 1.97 to 2.16%, 2.11 to 2.42% and 1.27 to 1.65cP, respectively. The result also showed that the pH and total soluble solids of the samples increased with increase in substitution of watermelon and pawpaw juices, while the titratable acidity and viscosity decreased. The sensory properties of the mixed fruit juice samples showed that the control (Juice made with 100% shaddock) was the most acceptable by the judges and also differed significantly (p<0.05) in colour, taste, aroma, consistency and mouthfeel from the mixed fruit juice samples produced from shaddock, watermelon and pawpaw blends. Generally, both the control and the mixed fruit juice samples were generally acceptable by the judges because they were rated high in all the sensory attributes evaluated in this study.