ReseaRch PaPeR Journal of Agricultural and Marine Sciences 2023, 28(1): 70–76 DOI: 10.53541/jams.vol28iss1pp70-76 Received 9 June 2022 Accepted 15 October 2022 دراسة التخزين هلريس اخلضار املركب من الطماطم واليقطني والزجنبيل R.G. الكمايل1، سيناراتنا 2S. M. A. C.، K. برمياكومارS. M. M ،1.أفرين1 Storage Study on Tomato, Pumpkin, and Ginger Composite Vegetable Squash R. G. Lakmali1, S. M. A. C. U. Senarathna2, K. Premakumar, * S. M. M. S. Afreen1 Afreen S. M. M. S1,*( ) afreen0899@gmail.com, 1Departent of Agric chemistry, Faculty of Agriculture, Eastern University of Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka, 2 Food Research unit, Department of Agriculture, Gannoruwa, Sri Lanka. Introduction Sri Lanka produces approximately 1,167,141 tons of vegetables every year over an area of 84,191 hect-ares (Hamangoda and Pushpakumar, 2019). Hence, postharvest loss of vegetables ranges from 16 percent to 40 percent of total production (Vidanapathirana et al., 2018) in turn creates scarcity for the vegetables at the local markets followed by cropping seasons of maha and yala. Therefore, intake of vegetables decreased, in turn increases demand for those. As vegetable prices have risen, make the people unwilling to purchase them. In Sri Lanka, per capita consumption of vegetable is 33.76 kg/person/year, meanwhile the nutritional requirement of vegetables is 75 kg/person/year. To close this gap and enhance Sri Lankans’ vegetable consumption, produc- tion of vegetable-based instant foods seems to be bet- ter solution. The price of vegetables is low during the high-production season, and it can be used to manufac- ture value-added items, like beverages. A beverage is a food product that is made specifically for human con- sumption and serves to quench thirstiness. Vegetable beverages are widely available in the global market. The beverages are available under a number of names, in- cluding fruit drink, nectar, squash, spice squash, ready- to-serve (RTS) (Kumar et al., 2013). Amongst, squashes are becoming more popular than synthetic beverages, Abstract. Sri Lanka has a vast variety of vegetables. Although the nutritional and medicinal properties of pumpkin and tomato are acknowledged, their consumption as beverage is limited due to their lack of taste. Blending these vege- tables with spice extracts is considered a more nutritious alternative when added to beverages. An effort was completed to determine the storage stability of vegetable squash made using different proportion of tomato, pumpkin and ginger. Considering the findings of several preliminary studies, five formulations in various mixes of tomato and pumpkin, were chosen. The highest scores for all the sensory parameters and chemical characters were obtained by formulation (T1) 50% tomato + 50% pumpkin followed by (T2) 75% tomato +25% pumpkin. The best combination was improved using 1 % ginger to form T3 (50% tomato+ 50% pumpkin+ 1% ginger). The most three promising treatments (T1, T2 and T3) were chosen for a storage experiment at 30°C and 70-75% relative humidity. Compositional analysis and sensory assessments were done. In chemical analysis, it was found that variances in the scores of pH, ascorbic acid, titratable acidity, total sugar and reducing sugar were significant (p< 0.05). Squash formulations showed an increasing trend in titratable acidity (0.43 % -0.64 %), pH (3.37 – 4.08), total sugar (11.78 % - 37.04 %), reducing sugar (4.42 % -31.96 %) and a decreasing trend in ascorbic acid (308.23 mg/100 ml – 79.97 mg/100 ml) and total soluble solids (25.05 -24.3o Brix) as a function of storage time. Sensory analysis revealed significant differences (p<0.05) across formulations for organo- leptic characteristics, such as aroma, taste and overall acceptability. The composite vegetable squash T3 was chosen as the best formulation based on the findings of physicochemical and sensory attributes. It could be stored for 12 weeks without any significant variations and prolonged shelf life. Keywords: Ginger extract, physico chemical analysis, sensory attributes, shelf life املســتخلص: ســريالنكا لديهــا جمموعــة متنوعــة مــن اخلضــروات. علــى الرغــم مــن اخلصائــص الغذائيــة والطبيــة لليقطــن والطماطــم، إال أن اســتهالكهما كمشــروابت حمــدود بســبب مذاقهمــا. يعتــر مــزج هــذه اخلضــار مــع مســتخلصات التوابــل بديــاًل مغــذًي أكثــر عنــد إضافتــه يف املشــروابت. مت حتديــد فــرة ختزيــن اهلريــس النبــايت املركــب مــن نســب خمتلفــة مــن الطماطــم واليقطــن والزجنبيــل. ابلنظــر إىل نتائــج العديــد مــن الدراســات األوليــة، مت اختيــار مخســة تركيبــات مــن خليــط خمتلــف مــن الطماطــم واليقطــن. ومت احلصــول علــى أعلــى التقديــرات جلميــع املتغــرات احلســية واخلــواص الكيميائيــة عــن طريــق الركيبــة )T1( 50٪ طماطــم + 50٪ يقطــن تليهــا الركيبــة )T2( 75٪ طماطــم + 25٪ يقطــن. مت حتســن أفضــل تركيبــة ابســتخدام 1٪ زجنبيــل لتشــكيل T3 )50٪ طماطم + 50٪ قرع + 1٪ زجنبيل(. مت اختيار أكثر ثالث معاجلات واعدة )T1 وT2 و T3( لتجربة التخزين عند 30 درجة مئوية ورطوبــة نســبية تــراوح بــن 70-75٪. مت إجــراء التحليــل الكيميائــي والتقييمــات احلســية. يف التحليــل الكيميائــي وجــدت فروقــات ملحوظــة يف درجــات األس اهليدروجيــي ومحــض األســكوربيك ومحوضــة املعايــرة والســكر الكلــي والســكر املختــزل. )p <0.05( أظهــرت تركيبــات هريــس اخلضــار املركــب اجتاهاً متزايداً يف احلموضة القابلة للمعايرة )0.43٪ -0.64٪( ، ودرجة احلموضة )3.37 - 4.08( ، وإمجايل الســكر )٪11.78 - ٪37.04( ، والســكر املختزل )4.42٪ -31.96٪( واجتاه تنازيل يف محض األســكوربيك )308.23 جمم / 100 مل - 79.97 جمم / 100 مل( واملواد الصلبة )p <0.05( كدالــة لوقــت التخزيــن. كشــف التحليــل احلســي عــن فــروق ذات داللــة إحصائيــة )الذائبــة الكليــة )25.05 - 24.3 درجــة بريكــس ابلنســبة للخصائــص احلســية، مثــل الرائحــة والطعــم والقبــول العــام. مت اختيــار تركيبــة هريــس اخلضــار T3 كأفضــل تركيبــة بنــاًء علــى نتائــج اخلصائــص الفيزيئيــة والكيميائيــة واحلســية. حيــث ميكــن ختزينهــا ملــدة 12 أســبوًعا دون وجــود أي اختالفــات كبــرة وفــرة صالحيــة طويلــة. الكلمات املفتاحية: مستخلص الزجنبيل ، التحليل الكيميائي الفيزيئي ، الصفات احلسية ، فرة التخزين. 71Research Paper Lakmali , Senarathna, Premakumar, Afreen owing to their flavor, taste, nutritional content, and stor- age stability. Fruit juice, sugar, citric acid, and preser- vatives are common constituents in squash beverages (Maciel et al., 2013). Tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum) are one of the world’s most frequently grown vegetable crops. It is a specie of the Solanaceae family of nightshades. Toma- toes contain an exceptional amount of vitamin C and beta-carotene, as well as a decent amount of the mineral manganese and a good amount of vitamin E (Aldrich et al., 2010). Cucurbita pepo (pumpkin) is a commercial- ly important Cucurbitaceae family member. It is a rich source of naturally active substances and is advised to consume for diseases including arthrosclerosis and di- abetes, as well as controlling cholesterol (Dhiman et al., 2017). In 2018, tomatoes were grown on 6712 hectares in Sri Lanka, with a production of 101,404 tons mean- while pumpkins were grown in 7301 ha with the annu- al pumpkin output level of 81,200 tons. (Hamangoda & Pushpakumar, 2019). Ginger is the subterranean rhi- zome of the plant Zingiber Officinale, which belongs to the Zingibeaceae family. In 2018, Sri Lanka produced 14,208 tons of ginger for 1999 hectares (Hamangoda and Pushpakumar, 2019) . Ginger has been extensively used as a spice and a natural preservative. Despite having strong nutritious properties, the use of vegetables for the preparation of various processed products is limited due to excessive acidity, astringen- cy, bitterness, and other features in the vegetables. As a result, blending different vegetables and spices can improve the juice’s storability as well as inhibit micro- biological growth (Bhardwaj and Pandey, 2011). Thus, the current research was conducted to generate squash from tomato, pumpkin, and ginger, as well as to assess its quality during storage. Materials and Methods The experiment was conducted at the Food Science Lab of the Food Research Unit in Gannoruwa, Sri Lanka. Fresh and high-quality tomato, pumpkin, and ginger were procured from Cargills Food City in Kandy, Sri Lanka; while sugar was obtained from a nearby shop in Gannoruwa. The most preferred composite squash formulations from our previous study were selected for storage study and they are 50% tomato and 50% pump- kin (T1) and 75% tomato and 25% pumpkin (T2) (Table 1). These formulations were prepared as described in our previous study (Begum et al., 2018) and stored at an ambient temperature of 27°C and 70-75 % RH. Hence, the formulation T1 was improved with 1% ginger extract and named as T3 (50% tomato and 50% pumpkin and 1 % ginger) to investigate the potentiality of ginger extract on the improvement of storage of composite squash formu- lation (Table 1). The prepared blends were kept in glass bottle with three replications under ambient conditions. Sensory evaluation A panel of 20 un-trained panelists evaluated the formu- lated composite squash for organoleptic features, such as color, aroma, taste, nature, and overall acceptability at the end of storage. The panelists were chosen from different social status. Three digits numbers were se- lected and assigned to each treatment sample. Prepared tomato-pumpkin squashes were presented simultane- ously for the panelist and serving order was random- ized. The panelists were not allowed to communicate during evaluation. The hedonic rating test was used to determine the acceptability. The panelists rated their acceptability of the product on a 5-point hedonic scale. The scale was arranged liked that 5 = extreme like, 4 = like moderately, 3 = neither like nor dislike, 2 = dislike moderately and 1=extreme dislike. The sensory assess- ment was performed within 9.00 am and 12.00 pm. Each panelist was given a set of samples to assess at random. Physico-chemical Analysis of Squash The physico-chemical properties of the stored squash were assessed using AOAC-recommended standard techniques (Horwits and Latime, 2005). A hand-held refractrometer was used to measure the Total Soluble Solids (TSS) and expressed as oBrix (Model ATAGO-S- 28E). A digital pH meter was used to determine the pH (Model HANNA HI 98130). 5 ml squash was homog- enized with 45 ml of distilled water for 1min at 20ºC to measure the pH. The titratable acidity of the juices was measured by titrating them with standard sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and expressed the results in per- cent citric acid. The indophenol dye method was used to determine vitamin C content, while the Lane-Eynon method was used to determine total sugar in all squash formulations. During the analysis, each parameter was replicated three times. Statistical Analysis To evaluate the significance at P < 0.05, the results of the sensory evaluation and chemical analysis were statistical- ly evaluated using ANOVA and the computer-aided SAS statistical software was used. Standard errors were cal- culated using MINITAB 14 statistical package. Compari- son of means of sensory evaluation and chemical analysis were done by Tukey’s Standardized Range Test (TSRT) and Duncan Multiple Range Test (DMRT) respectively. Results and Discussion pH Changes in pH of stored composite vegetable squashes of tomato, pumpkin and ginger are presented in the Ta- ble 2. As per the Table 2, the highest pH value (4.31) was recorded in formulation T1, while lowest (4.08) in the T3 at the end of storage. The findings of this study are 72 SQU Journal of Agricultural and Marine Sciences, 2023, Volume 28, Issue 1 Storage Study on Tomato, Pumpkin, and Ginger Composite Vegetable Squash expected because the phenolic components and organic acids (i.e. malic acid and oxalic acid) in ginger extract can release H+ ions, and pH was reduced (Faiqoh et al., 2021). At room temperature, there were significant vari- ations (p<0.05) in pH among squash formulations and it gradually increased during storage. This might be due to the use of acids in the presence of metal ions to pro- duce hexose sugars from polysaccharides and non-re- ducing sugars during storage and the same behaviors were observed in sapota squash (Relekar et al., 2013). Table 1. Experimental plans Treatments Tomato (% w/w) Pumpkin (% w/w) Ginger (% w/w) T1 50 50 00 T2 75 25 00 T3 50 50 01 Total Soluble Solids (TSS) Changes of TSS in stored composite vegetable squash- es of tomato, pumpkin and ginger are shown in Table 3. At the end of storage, it shows that TSS value was the highest (26.1) in T2 formulation and the lowest in the T3 formulations (24.3). It could be because the ginger juice inhibited microbial development, which could ad- vance metabolic rates and ginger extract’s phenolic com- pounds, such as gingerole, and shagoal. These may trap sucrose, hexoses, and other constituents, thus prevent- ing it to contribute in the soluble components (Bhardwaj and Mukherjee, 2011; Hariharan and Mahendran, 2016). TSS of all formulations was reduced as storage time in- creased, possibly due to chemical interactions between the squash’s organic constituents (Inthuja et al., 2019). As vitamin C is water soluble and prone to oxidation, it progressively reduced; this is the fundamental reason for the decrease in acidity and TSS (Mikdat Simsek, Table 2. Changes in pH of Stored Composite Vegetable Squashes of Tomato, Pumpkin and Ginger Storage Periods (weeks) T1 T2 T3 2 4.04 ± 0.0a 4.02 ± 4.02a 3.37 ± 0.08b 4 4.04 ± 0.01a 4.03 ± 0.00a 3.80 ± 0.01b 6 4.00 ± 0.0b 4.17 ± 0.00a 3.91 ± 0.01c 8 4.00 ± 0.0a 4.16 ± 0.05c 3.90± 0.00b 10 4.32 ± 0.01a 4.13 ± 0.00c 4.07 ± 0.01b 12 4.31 ± 0.0a 4.13 ± 0.01c 4.08 ± 0.00b T1: Treatment 1, T2: Treatment 2, T3: Treatment 3 The values are the means of three replicates ±standard error. Values shown with different letters are different significantly (p<0.05) Table 3. Experimental plans Storage T1 T2 T3 2 26.10 ± 0.10a 26.15 ± 0.45a 25.05 ± 0.05a 4 25.50 ± 0.50a 25.60 ± 0.00a 25.05 ± 0.05a 6 25.75 ± 0.25a 25.90 ± 0.10a 24.15 ± 0.15b 8 25.75 ± 0.10a 25.90 ± 0.20a 24.15 ± 0.05b 10 24.20 ± 0.20b 26.10 ± 0.10a 24.40 ± 0.00b 12 26.05 ± 0.05a 26.10 ± 0.10a 24.30 ± 0.10b T1: Treatment 1, T2: Treatment 2, T3: Treatment 3 The values are the averages of three replicates ± standard error. Means with the same letter in the column are not significantly different from each other (P>0.05). Figure 1. Changes in ascorbic acid of tomato, pumpkin, and ginger composite vegetable squashes 73Research Paper Lakmali , Senarathna, Premakumar, Afreen 2011). The results are similar to the finding of a low-cal- orie herbal aonla-ginger beverage (Gaikwad et al., 2012). Ascorbic acid Figure 1 explains that the maximum average value of vi- tamin C was 79.97 mg/100 ml in T3 (pumpkin 50 % + to- mato 50 % + ginger 1 %), while the mean minimum value was 35.35 mg/100 ml in T1 (pumpkin 50 % + tomato 50 %). During the whole storage time under ambient condi- tions, a gradual decline in ascorbic acid was seen in com- posite squash formulations. The rate of decrease was low in the case of T3 because ginger extract could reduce the oxidation process of ascorbic acid (Bhardwaj and Mukherjee, 2011). The breakdown of ascorbic acid to dehydro ascorbic acid or the unstable nature of ascorbic acid was due to the influence of heat, light, and air (Her- big and Renard, 2017). The current findings are consis- tent with those of squash from wild prickly pear fruits (Chauhan et al., 2019), mulberry squash (Thakur and Ha- mid, 2017) and sweet orange squash (Syed et al., 2012). Titratable acidity Figure 2 shows the changes in titratable acidity of stored composite vegetable squashes of tomato, pumpkin and ginger. At the end of storage the formulation T3 had the highest titratable acidity value (0.65 %) whereas the for- mulation T1 had the lowest (0.35 %) (Figure 2). During storage, titratable acidity was increased significantly in all formulations. This could be associated with the presence of microbes and the breakdown of sugar, but also might be acid production, oxidation of reducing sugars, polysac- charide degradation, or the breakdown of uronic acid and pectin components ( Bhardwaj and Pandey, 2011; Kesav- anath et al., 2015). Blend of pineapple, carrot and orange juices revealed a similar result (Jan and Masih, 2012). Total sugar content Figure 3 shows the changes in total sugar content of stored composite vegetable squashes of tomato, pumpkin and ginger. T3 (Tomato 50 % + pumpkin 50 % + ginger 1 %) had the highest mean value (37.04 %) for total sugars after the storage. Throughout twelve weeks of storage Table 4. Sensory evaluation of tomato, pumpkin, and ginger composite vegetable squashes at the end of 12 weeks Formulations Weeks Colour Aroma Taste Nature Overall acceptability T1 0 12 4.62 ± 0.18a 4.69 ± 0.13a 3.92 ± 0.24a 4.46 ± 0.22a 4.46 ± 0.24a 2.77 ± 0.30a 2.93 ± 0.33ab 3.08 ± 0.29a 2.38 ± 0.14a 3.00 ± 0.28ab T2 0 12 4.00 ± 0.28ab 3.85 ± 0.27b 3.31 ± 0.37ab 3.69 ± 0.21b 4.08 ± 0.21ab 2.78 ± 0.31b 2.62 ± 0.21abc 2.08 ± 0.21c 2.08 ± 0.14a 2.00 ± 0.16c T3 12 2.76 ± 0.26a 2.08 ± 0.27c 2.62 ± 0.29abc 2.38 ± 0.24a 3.46 ± 0.27a T1: Treatment 1, T2: Treatment 2, T3: Treatment 3 Values are the averages of 20 replicates ± standard error Means of the columns with the same letters are not significantly different (p<0.05) Five-point hedonic scales were used to assess sensory characteristics Figure 2. Changes in titratable acidity of stored composite vegetable squashes of tomato, pumpkin and ginger 74 SQU Journal of Agricultural and Marine Sciences, 2023, Volume 28, Issue 1 Storage Study on Tomato, Pumpkin, and Ginger Composite Vegetable Squash under ambient conditions, total sugars in squash for- mulations increased gradually (Figure 3). This could be due to the hydrolysis and conversion of polysaccharides from other components, such as pectin, cellulose, starch (Hariharan and Mahendran, 2016). Similar increase in the total sugars was recorded in orange-based blended RTS beverages (Malav et al., 2014), seabuckthorn squash (Ali et al., 2011) and sapota squash (Relekar et al., 2013). Reducing sugar Figure 4 shows the changes in reducing sugar content of stored composite vegetable squashes of tomato, pump- kin and ginger. Figure 4 displays the data reducing sugars as affected by storage of formulated squash. At the end of storage, T3 reported the mean highest value (31.96 %) for reducing sugars, while T1 showed the mean minimum value (19.97 %). During storage, the reducing sugar con- tent of each sample increased gradually. This could also be due to starch breakdown into sugars. As well as the hydrolysis of non-reducing sugars into reducing sugars and the conversion of complex polysaccharides into sim- ple sugars (Thakur and Hamid, 2017). In an orange-based blended RTS beverage, a similar increase in reducing sugars was shown during storage (Malav et al., 2014). Sensory Quality Table 4 shows sensory evaluation of tomato, pumpkin, and ginger composite vegetable squashes at the end of 12 weeks. The sensory evaluation result revealed that the color, aroma, taste, nature, and overall acceptability scores of squash gradually declined as the storage period progressed. Color is a prominent factor of visual per- ception. Reduced oxygen in the headspace can increase carotenoid breakdown via oxidation, thus resulted the development of off-color (Gliemmo et al., 2009). The aroma scores of various squash samples differed signifi- cantly (p<0.05). It was probably due to the loss of aroma (i.e. volatile aromatic components) (Thakur and Hamid, 2017). The taste of several squash samples differed sig- nificantly (p<0.05). The loss of the sugar-acid combina- tion of squash after storage could be explained by the decline in taste (Chauhan et al., 2019).The drinking abil- ity of a drink is nature. The difference in nature score between squash samples was not significant (p>0.05) at the end of twelve weeks. Treatment T3 had the highest mean nature (2.38) while treatment T2 had the lowest mean nature (2.08). According to statistical analysis, the overall score of various squash samples differed sig- nificantly (p<0.05). Squash’s overall acceptability scores could be declined over storage due to the changes in ap- pearance, flavor components, product uniformity (Ullah et al., 2015). During storage, sensory qualities in papa- ya blended pineapple RTS beverage (Sindhumathi and Premalatha, 2013) and box myrtle squash (Thakur et al., 2016) showed a considerable decrease. When com- pared with other squash samples, T3 (50 % tomato+ 50 % pumpkin+1 % ginger) was favored. Conclusion According to the compositional study, pH, titratable acidity, total sugar, and reducing sugar of all formula- tions increased with storage time ( 12 weeks), while total soluble solid and ascorbic acid declined marginally and the sample T3 (50 % tomato + 50 % pumpkin + 1 % gin- ger composite vegetable squash) obtained higher ascor- bic acid, titratable acidity, total sugar and reducing sugar content. Although all the squash samples were accept- able, the formulation T3 proved to be the more superior to other when examined over a period of 12 weeks. To- mato, pumpkin, and ginger have enormous potential for creating a healthy squash. This may, if properly exploit- ed, provide a healthier alternative to the sugar intensive drinks. This may also be a better technique to preserve the products and reduce spoilage and vegetable waste. Figure 3. Changes in total sugar content of stored composite vegetable squashes of tomato, pumpkin and ginger 75Research Paper Lakmali , Senarathna, Premakumar, Afreen References Aldrich HT, Salandanan K, Kendall P, Bunning M, Ston- aker F, Külen O, Stushnoff C. (2010). Cultivar choice provides options for local production of organic and conventionally produced tomatoes with higher qual- ity and antioxidant content. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture 90(15): 2548–2555. Ali Z, Korekar G, Mundra S, Yadav A, Stobdan, T. (2011). 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