Author : Salman Siddiqui, K. Lakshmi Bala and Avanish Kumar

The study was conducted to investigate the effect of thermal processing and carbonation on Ashwagandha Health drink. The health drinks were prepared using sugar syrup as well as aspartame. Three different concentrations of Ashwagandha powder (5g, 10g and 15 m) were used for preparation of the drinks. Results showed 10g concentration of ashwagandha was found to best for further analysis. The drinks were carbonated and thermally processed at 700 C for 30 minutes. Quality and shelf life analysis of the health drinks was done. Results showed that the thermally processed health drink containing sugar syrup was found to have highest Energy content of 49 KCal while Carbonated health drink containing aspartame had the lowest Energy content of 10 KCal. In shelf life analysis, thermally processed health drinks showed lesser variation in pH and sugar contents as compared to the carbonated energy drinks.

Keywords: Ashwagandha, Carbonation, Thermal processing, Energy content.

Article published in International Journal of Current Engineering and Technology, Vol.4, No.5 (Oct-2014)