A Comparative Study of the Nutritive Factors and sensory acceptance of Juices from Selected Nigerian Fruits

The nutritive factors of the juices of three fruits: orange, pineapple and pawpaw were studied and compared using standard methods. Proximate analysis of the samples indicated that the nutritive factors investigated in the three juice samples were significantly different (p≤0.05). Orange juice contained 2.19% and 3.65% more moisture and 11.43% and 38.57% more crude protein than pineapple and pawpaw juices while pineapple juice had 40.16% and 45.08% more ash as well as 4.74% and 19.59% more energy content than the others. However, 40.0% and 65.71% more crude lipid, 22.39% and 14.79% more carbohydrates and 11.11% and 40.74% more crude fibre were observed in the pawpaw juice than orange and pineapple juices, respectively. The minerals and vitamin C content of the juices revealed that orange juice had 75.47% and 58.49% more Ca2+ and 31.42% and 11.33% more vitamin C than pineapple and pawpaw juices while pineapple juice had 16.67% more Mg2+ than orange and pineapple juices. Similarly, sensory evaluation showed a significant difference (p≤0.05) in taste, aroma and general acceptability of the juice samples whereas no significant difference (p≤0.05) was observed in the colour of the juice samples. Overall, pineapple juice had 4.82% and 21.69% more preference rating than orange and pawpaw juice samples