Effect of naringinase enzymatic treatment on the bitter compound naringin in fresh juice of “Bibila sweet” oranges

Abstract

Enhanced bitterness in citrus juices is one of the common quality problem in beverage industry. Limonin and naringin are the two main responsible compounds for the bitterness. The aim of this study is to determine the effectiveness of adding naringinase enzyme on reducing naringin in “Bibila sweet” oranges to enhance its quality. Naringinase can decompose naringin in to less bitter precursors and it can be inactivated by heating up to 90 0C. Three enzyme concentrations as 1.0 g/L, 0.5 g/L and 0.25 g/L with two incubation time periods of 2 and 4 hours used at constant incubation temperature of 500 C were used as the variables. The concentration of Naringin was analyzed using Davis semi quantitative method and Ultra High Performance Liquid Chromatography. The optimum reduction can be obtained by adding 1.0g/L naringinase enzyme at 50 0C with 4 hours of incubation period with 86% reduction percentage.