Extraction and Preservation of Bottle Gourd Juice: Bottle Gourd, Juice, Blanching, Extraction, Pasteurization, Preservation, Storage

Bottle Gourd(Lagenaria Siceraria) is a delicious fruit contents natural antioxidants, minerals along with dietary fibers. The fruits are good source of vitamin B complex and choline along with fair source of vitamin C. Vitamin B complex is required for proper functioning of the central nervous system and also for metabolism of folic acid and DNA synthesis. It is yellowish green, having the shape of a bottle with whiter pulp. The fruits can be widely used for making juice, pickles and sweets. It has high therapeutic values and hence; it is used as a nutritive agent having cardioprotective, diuretic and cooling effects. It is also used to cure pain, ulcers and bronchial disorders. Bottle gourd fruits juice is considered to be beneficial in insanity, epilepsy and in nervous diseases. Daily intake of homogenized bottle gourd juice(about 200-300 g) serves as a prophylactic against cardiac disorders. The preparation of bottle gourd juice is mostly manual which is less hygienic with the chance of degradation in quality quickly. This book; therefore,provides details of bottle gourd juice extraction process and its preservation techniques at room as well as refrigerated storage.