Abstract
Centella asiatica, Bua Bog, has been widely used in Thailand for more than a hundred years as an important medicinal herb. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of blanching time of C. asiatica on antioxidant activity. Developed-pasteurized C. asiatica juice was also evaluated for sensory evaluation, nutrition values, and shelf life. Fresh leaves were blanched in hot water for 0, 1, and 2 minutes, before taking to make a juice and the filtrates were determined total extractable phenolic content (TPC), total extractable flavonoid content (TFC), and antioxidant activities. The juice was divided to add with sugar at 1.2, 2.5 and 5% as low sugar (LS), medium sugar (MS), and high sugar (HS). All treatments were evaluated for sensory quality. Selected samples were pasteurized at 85 ± 1 °C for 15 seconds then microbial and sensory evaluation were conducted during storage at 8 °C and 25 °C. The results indicated that the juice obtaining from blanching time for 2 minutes showed the highest value of TPC and TFC, including antioxidant activity. The LS was selected to produce pasteurized juice product that could be stored at 8 °C for 10 days. Therefore, C. asiatica can be pasteurized as juice and used as functional drink.
Keywords:
Centella asiatica; antioxidant property; herbal juice; functional drink
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