Cashew apples are tropical fruits rich in sugars, minerals, and vitamin C. In spite of having high nutritional value, neither the fresh cashew apples nor the juice is consumed due to astringency. In the present investigation an attempt was made to reduce the astringency without affecting the nutrient quality of the juice. The clarifying agent, sago at a concentration of 2 g/L, has decreased the tannins by 42.85% but the respective sample's visual clarity is only 94%. The same clarifying agent with the same concentration along with sterile filtration has decreased the tannins by 41.75% with improved visual clarity of 96%. This clarified juice sample was treated with chemical preservatives and the quality of the juice was assessed periodically up to 4 months. The shelf life of juice treated with citric acid and benzoic acid at 0.1 g/L each and stored at 4 o C was prolonged up to 90 days.

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Essential oils can be used as antibacterial additives and are generally recognized as safe. Coleus zeylanicus is one of the medicinal aromatic plant serves as a source of essential oils. Antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of essential oils obtained from the control and salinity stressed Coleus zeylanicus plant was investigated in the present study. Essential oils from the control and salinity stressed Coleus zeylanicus plant was extracted using Clevenger apparatus. The composition of essential oils was identified using gas chromatography mass spectrometry, which showed a few compounds expressed differentially. The antibacterial activity of the isolated essential oils was studied by using the agar well diffusion method, showing potent inhibitory activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The antioxidant and antimicrobial constituents of the essential oils were spotted using the bioautography method, revealing that the antioxidant and antimicrobial properties in the essential oils of Coleus zeylanicus were increased upon exposure to salinity stress.

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