Factors Influencing Postharvest Quality of Tamarind Fruit Pulp

Abstract

Tamarind pulp has potential value in nutrition and health and is useful in variety of ways in the preparations of both food, and medicines. There are several cultivars identified for industrial use, sweet and sour pulp types for table fruit purposes. Fruit is consumed as fresh fruit snack, or its pulp made into puree or sauce to mix with rice and other cereals, vegetables, fruits, and to make candies, high energy bars, ready to use fresh fruit concentrates, sweet juice beverages or flavoring agent for locally consumed drinks, pickles, as a preservative to store several foods. The presence of antimicrobial properties and essential phytochemicals in tamarind pulp or pulp products made them safe for human and animal consumption and free of microbial load. There are reports on an insect pest or larvae carried over from field to storage, enhanced losses of fruit quality and encouraging secondary pathogenic bacteria or fungal contamination. The climatic factors like temperature, relative humidity, ventilation, pH, amino acid to sugar ratio, and moisture content of fruit or dried pulp blocks and their packing materials are some of the factors controlling the pulp quality. However, care during selection of raw material, source location, processing methodology will eliminate cross contamination due to fungi or bacteria from food or food products prepared using tamarind pulp. The wild resources, 2000 genotypes and potential cultivars identified for pulp production would be an excellent source for seedless tamarind table fruit cultivar development. Postharvest studies on improved storage quality by using insect resistant cultivars and inclusion of ready to serve fresh foods with tamarind in United States grocery stores would be beneficial. The most useful part of tamarind tree (Tamarindus indica L.) is the fruit, as it contains a sweetish, acidic pulp, which is widely used for souring curries, sauces, chutneys and certain beverages [1]. Rao and Srivastava in 1974 reported that fruit pulp is soft and thick, brown or reddish brown in color, and 55 per cent of the fruit is filled with fruit pulp while the remaining 34 per cent and 11 per cent are contributed by seed and shell respectively [2]. India is the largest producer (300,000 tons) and exporter of tamarind pulp fol-Abbreviation USDA (United States Department of Agriculture); % (percent); g(grams); mg(milligrams); μg (micrograms); > (greater than); < (less than); IU (International Units); β-D (Beta -Dextro); α, β, γ (alpha, beta, gamma); ml (millilitre); oC(Degrees Celsius); oF(Degrees fahrenheit); BHA (Butylated hydroxy anisole); TSS (Total soluble solids); ± (Plus or minus); HDPE (high density polyethylene); LDPE (Low density polyethylene);LLDPE (Linear low density polyethylene); MDPE(Medium density polyethylene); NAPA (National Action Plan for Agriculture); US-FDA (United States -Food and Drug Administration);