Process Technology Development For Lycopene Enriched Whey-Based Functional Beverage

The food products contributing health welfares beyond nutritive value are getting recognition nowadays leading to exponential increases in consumption and manufacturing of functional food. The convenience-driven need base satisfaction of consumer makes the beverages the most favorable kind of functional food. Further, they are the finest transition facilitator of nutrients and bioactive compounds including lycopene. Lycopene is a potent antioxidant and its efficacy in reducing the risk of non-communicable diseases was assessed by various groups of scientists to justify relative health claims. This investigation is coiling around the development of process technology utilizing the potential of tomato lycopene as a functional ingredient to justify its suitability in food product development. Accordingly, tomato puree (potent lycopene source) as techno economically feasible ingredient of whey fruit juice beverage is collectively standardized with a specialty set of parameters like processing temperature and time against pharmaceutically accessible purified lycopene. Lycopene enriched whey fruit uice beverages were developed with different levels of tomato puree (0-20 percent) and evaluated for organoleptic and physico-chemical properties by using standard procedures. The results revealed a reducing trend in pH, ash content, and fat content of beverages whereas an increasing trend in TSS, acidity, protein content, total solids content, reducing and total sugar contents, ascorbic acid, and lycopene content of beverages with an increase in tomato puree level. The whey-based functional beverages prepared with 10 percent tomato puree emerged out as the finest treatment under investigation on the basis of organoleptic characteristics score and recorded 0.55mg per 100g bioactive lycopene as a nutraceutical. (C) 2021 INT TRANS J ENG MANAG SCI TECH.