Nutritional and Antioxidant Potential of Aegle marmelos Fermented Fruit Juice

Aegle marmelos fruit, leaf and bark, are traditionally used for treatment of diabetes, liver toxicity, fungal infection, microbial infection, inflammation and pyrexia. In the present study, an attempt has been made to ferment the A. marmelos fruit juice and evaluate its nutritional and antioxidant potential as well as its sensory attributes. The nutritional potential of the fermented fruit juice showed an increased level of titratable acidity and lactic acid content of 1.7 g tartaric acid/L and 7.2 mg/L respectively. The 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), 2,2′-azino-bis-3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid (ABTS) and Hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) scavenging activity of the fermented fruit juice was found out to be 81.10, 34.44 and 33.33 % respectively at 15 µl/mL concentration. Principal component analysis (PCA) reduced five sensory attributes (aroma, color, flavor, taste and aftertaste) to three independent components, which accounted for a 79.265 % variance (PC1, 31.278 %; PC2, 27.288 %; PC3, 20.699 %). It is concluded that the fermented fruit juice is rich in antioxidants and can be potentially used as a medicinal drink with higher nutritional potential.