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There is a demand for Palmyra palm (Borassus flabellifer) tender endosperm (Taal; Nungu) in the off season due to its health benefits. To extend the shelf life of Palmyra palm Tender Fruit Endosperm (PTFE) it was thermally processed. The versatile retort processing technology was used to increase the shelf life. Processed tender endosperm packed in transparent retort pouches (TRP) and nontransparent retort pouches (NTRP) were evaluated for textural, color, microbial, and sensorial properties. Heat penetration tests and F- values were also determined. Processed tender endosperm was compared with fresh endosperm and there was a shelf life of 6 months under ambient storage conditions (30-32°C). The process time to reach lethality in nontransparent pouches (14.03 min) was higher than that in transparent pouches (13.02 min) and the difference may be due to the layer addition of packaging material. Textural profile analysis revealed that hardness, gumminess, and chewiness decreased when the processing and storage time was increased. The sensory score obtained similar results to the textural analysis (Hardness value of TRP:5.063kgfand NTRP: 4.58kgf); succulence and toughness decreased over the prolonged processing time. The tender endosperm in metalized retort pouches scored higher (7.9 as overall acceptability) than that in transparent retort pouches (7.8 as overall acceptability) in terms of sensory analysis. Retorted pouches were microbiologically safe until 6 months with the absence of Clostridium, Staphylococcus and Salmonella spp. The present experiment on shelf life extension of Palmyra tender endosperm (Nungu) helps in preserving the perishable healthy delicacy for more months and also enables to fetch higher income for the farmers with minimal investment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Natural sweeteners made from sugarcane and palmyra palm are widely used for their high nutritional value and claimed health benefits. In the present study, sugarcane liquid sweeteners namely refined sugar syrup, liquid jaggery prepared from Co 62175, Co 86032 and VCF-517 sugarcane varieties and palmyra palm liquid jaggery were evaluated for physico-chemical properties including DPPH radical scavenging activity and sensory characteristics. Results of the physico-chemical analysis indicated neutral to slightly alkaline pH (7.06-7.68) in all the samples. Among the sweeteners, palmyra palm liquid jaggery had highest conductivity, colour, reducing sugars, total phenol and protein content. High sucrose content was observed in refined sugar syrup (69.6 %) whereas low sucrose content was noted in palmyra palm liquid jaggery (51.6%). Sugarcane liquid jaggery of VCF 517 variety showed highest DPPH radical scavenging activity (17.3%) followed by palmyra palm liquid jaggery (16.3%). Sensory evaluation revealed higher scores for palmyra palm liquid jaggery for sweetness (>13 units) and overall acceptance attributes (>12 units). These research findings support the use of palmyra palm liquid jaggery over sugarcane liquid sweeteners for better health benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sugar profile, antioxidant properties, DNA damages, and in vitro predicted glycaemic index (pGI) of palm sugars (syrup and powder) were investigated in comparison with refined cane sugar. It was found that palm sugars exhibited better nutritional qualities than refined cane sugars. Palm sugars in both syrup and powder forms showed similar results, except in some properties. They contained a high content of fructose and glucose. They also exhibited better antioxidant properties, as evidenced by the high content of phenolic compounds and flavonoids. This contributed to their great antioxidant activities when assessed by DPPH radical scavenging activity and FRAP assay. The addition of palm sugar extracts to the reaction mixture effectively protected against DNA damage. For pGI, the mixture of corn starch and palm sugars showed slow digestion rate and, consequently, lower pGI values than those of refined cane sugars. Nutritional and functional properties of palm sugars were thought to be influenced by their retained phytonutrients, as they were processed under mild conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tender palmyra (Borassus flabellifer) fruit endosperm, also known as ice apple is consumed during the summer months especially in Southern and Eastern India. The endosperm is manually removed from the tender palmyra fruit using a heavy knife or sickle by the road side vendors before it is consumed. An investigation on retail film packaging was conducted to study the shelf life of tender palmyra endosperm in sealed packages. The research was carried out to study the effect of packaging films of different thickness on the physio-sensory properties of the endosperm under ambient (32±2°C) and refrigerated (5 ±1°C) conditions. The endosperm was packed in polypropylene bags of 40 and 80 micron thickness and low density polyethylene bags of 150 and 450 micron thickness and High Molecular density (HM) polyethylene bags of 40 micron thickness. The packed samples were kept for storage under ambient and refrigerated conditions. They were evaluated for the changes in weight loss, TSS and also firmness, colour and odour by subjective evaluation at periodic interval during storage. The weight loss was minimum for the sample packed in 450 micron Low Density Polyethylene bag under refrigerated storage. Sensory scores revealed that the overall acceptability(5.0) of palmyra endosperm packed in 450 micron thickness Low Density Poly Ethylene was highest at the end of storage under ambient condition. Similarly, highest overall acceptability (4.0) was observed in High Molecular density polyethylene bag of 40 micron thickness at refrigerated storage. Under normal conditions, palmyra endosperm is prone to spoilage within few hours due to oxidation and fermentation. The results of the study revealed that the shelf life of palmyra endosperm could be extended up to two days under ambient condition, when packed in Low Density Poly Ethylene bag of 450 micron thickness, whereas under refrigerated condition, shelf life could be up to eight days, when packed in high molecular density polyethylene bags of 40 micron thickness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this work, pectin extraction was performed using ripened sugar palm meat and young sugar palm meat as raw materials. The effect of extraction temperature and pH on the yield of pectin was investigated. It was found that the degree of esterification and galacturonic acid content decreased at high pH condition. The ripened sugar palm could give pectin as high as 20% yield at extraction condition of pH 2, 80°C, while the young sugar palm gave only 8.1% yield at pH 3. It was found that the adjustment of pH before and after extraction largely affected the yield of extraction. On the other hand, the extraction of young sugar palm meat at microwave power 800W at pH 2 with 3minutes of duration yielded as high as 23.5% of pectin. The results suggested that sugar palm meat had high potential as a new pectin source. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In 1996, a paper was published discussing the identity of a palm in the genus Borassus, occurring only in West Africa. It was identified as B. flabellifer, the Asian palmyrah palm, previously unknown in Africa. This paper recounts the story of an expedition to find and document these palms, resulting in the description of Borassus akeassii, Africa's newest palm species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]