Physicochemical characteristics of Palmyrah bottled toddy and their effect on storage

In the northern and eastern parts of Sri Lanka, the cloudy whitish toddy is obtained by tapping young or matured inflorescence of both female and male palmyrah palm (Borassus flabellifer), preserved them by using pasteurization techniques and then sold. In the present study, the effect of heat and storage period on the physicochemical characteristics as well as nutritional and mineral content of fresh and preserved toddy were determined. Preserved toddy showed a significantly (P<0.05) higher alcohol (%) 3.80(±0.07), acidity (%) 0.60(±0.07), turbidity (NTU) 2,694.50 (±0.07), relative density 1.01 (±0.07) and total solid (g/L) 58.22 (±0.07) while the total soluble solids (^obrix) 5.93(±0.07) and pH 3.43 (±0.07) showed significantly lesser values compared to the fresh toddy. However, there was no significant (P>0.05) difference in protein 1.42(±0.01) g, fat 0.02(±0.00) g, iron 11.9(±0.3) mg, phosphorus 0.64(±0.04) mg, calcium 13.5(±0.5) mg and magnesium 5.3(±0.5) mg/100 mL. During pasteurization, total sugar and ascorbic acid content were significantly (P<0.05) decreased from 3.04(±0.06) to 2.80(±0.01) g/100 mL and 3.0(±0.01) to 2.1(±0.01), respectively. When pasteurized toddy was stored at room temperature, there were no significant differences between the storage period of twelve months in alcohol 2.9(±0.60), acidity 0.5(±0.10), TSS 7.9(±0.6), pH 3.6(±0.01) and TS 69.4(±9.3). In conclusion, the physicochemical characteristics of palmyrah bottled toddy were not influenced by the pasteurization process and period of storage of twelve months.