Physico-Chemical Properties and Causes of the Precipitates in Bottled Coconut Juice
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Abstract:
In this paper, the macroscopic structure, particle size distribution, chemical composition, microstructure, and source of coconut juice precipitation were analyzed by microscopy, particle size measurement, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, and scanning electron microscopy. Compared to the emulsion particles of coconut juice, the precipitate particles were dark in color, had relatively large sizes with irregular shape, and tended to aggregate. Moreover, 90%, 50%, and 10% of the precipitates sized below 184.00 μm, 41.90 μm and 3.86 μm, respectively. The precipitates in coconut juice were mainly composed of mineral salt (38.53%), crude fiber (29.73%), and hydrolyzable sugars (total content: 26.32%). The precipitates contained high contents of easily precipitated mineral elements such as Mg (1.64%), Fe (0.21%), P (5.10%), and Ca (6.75%). Scanning electron microscopy showed that most of the large precipitate particles (> 50 μm) were irregularly shaped and had rough surfaces along with a small number of flaky particles, whilst the small spherical particles (< 10 μm) with different sizes were spherical in size and smooth in appearance. It seemed that different causes led to the generation of precipitates with different compositions.
