Effect of Multienzymatic Treatment on Banana (Musa sp.) Fruit Juice: Optimization Studies on Processing Parameters to Produce Clarified Product

Abstract

This study was conducted with an objective to produce high-quality, high-yield clarified banana juice by using a multi-enzyme system. Various concentrations of the commercial enzymes pectinase, cellulase, and hemicellulase were used to treat banana pulp for varying incubation times (30–180 min) at 55 ⁰C. For each enzyme, the effect of treatment conditions was examined on turbidity and yield of banana pulp, and the optimum process parameters were identified. For pectinase, cellulase, and hemicellulase, respectively, the optimum reaction conditions were 0.06% enzyme concentration with 60 min of incubation time, 0.40% enzyme concentration with 120 min of incubation time, and 1.20% enzyme concentration with 120 min of incubation time at 55 ⁰C. The values of turbidity and yield obtained at these optimum conditions were 11 NTU and 74% for pectinase, 12 NTU and 80.9% for cellulase, and 62 NTU and 76.2% for hemicellulase. These results led to the simultaneous application of all three enzymes to banana juice under compromised processing conditions (Pectinase 0.06%, Cellulase 0.40%, and Hemicellulase 0.90% with 120 min incubation period at 55 ⁰C). The simultaneous application of pectinase, cellulase, and hemicellulase on banana pulp with the aforementioned parameters provided clarified juice with turbidity of 7 NTU and yield of 79.2%.