Evaluation of Physico-Chemical and Antioxidant Properties of Orange Beverage Enriched with Aloe Vera Gel

In recent years, Identification of Aloe Vera's health properties has led to an increase in researchers' attention to its potential for enriching food products. The aim of this study was to produce a functional orange beverage enriched with Aloe Vera gel. The effect of different concentrations of Aloe Vera gel (20, 25, 30 and 40%) on antioxidant properties (DPPH radical scavenging activity, phenolic and flavonoid compounds and ascorbic acid) and physicochemical properties of beverage (acidity, pH, brix, moisture, ash and viscosity) were evaluated. The results showed that by increasing the concentration of Aloe Vera gel in the formulation, the antioxidant properties of the beverage increased, so as the concentration of Aloe Vera increased from 20 to 40%, the DPPH radical scavenging activity increased from 42.79% to 65.26%. the amount of phenolic and flavonoid compounds and ascorbic acid content of sample containing 40% Aloe Vera was 69.66, 6.93 (mg/ml) and 77.1 (mg/100ml), respectively. The amount of these compounds in all samples decreased significantly after pasteurization. The results of physicochemical tests showed that by increasing the concentration of Aloe Vera gel, the amount of acidity, brix, viscosity and color brightness index of the samples increased and pH decreased, significantly. The sensory evaluation results showed that the sample contained 30% Aloe Vera gel showed the highest overall acceptability. Therefore, it can be concluded that the Aloe Vera gel with its antioxidant properties can be used successfully in the production of functional beverages.