www.IndianJournals.com Members Copy, Not for Commercial Sale Downloaded From IP - 14.139.229.43 on dated 29-Sep-2016 267 Indian J. Hort. 73(2), June 2016: 267-273 INTRODUCTION Karonda (Carissa carandas L.) known as ‘Christ’s Thorn’ is a hardy, spiny, evergreen, multipurpose horticultural bush lourishing well without much care in the arid and semi-arid areas. It is an indigenous fruit of India and belongs to the family Apocynaceae. The fresh fruits of karonda are less popular due to their sour and astringent taste but are one of the richest sources of iron (0.46-4.95 mg/100 g) and contain appreciable amount of vit. C (1.6-17.90 mg/100 g), besides other minerals required for human health (Misra, 13). Therefore, the fruits are very much helpful in curing anaemia. The fruits possess appreciable amount of jelly grade pectin and acidity (Rai and Misra, 16). Though, fresh fruits of karonda are not much popular but have great potential for processing into several value- added products such as pickle, chutney, jelly, candy, squash, sauce, jam etc. Among the various processing methods, drying and dehydration of fruits is an important alternative in reducing post- harvest losses of fruits. The dried product not only retains most of the nutritive and medicinal properties but is easy to handle, store and transport to long distances. The present investigations were, therefore, undertaken to study the suitability of different karonda cultivars picked at different dates of maturity and processed to powder form by two methods of drying. MATERIALS AND METHODS The experiment was conducted during 2011- 12 in the Department of Horticulture, G.B.P.U.A. & T., Pantnagar. The experimental site is located at 29°N latitude and 79.3°E in the Tarai region of Uttarakhand in the foothills of Shivalik ranges at an altitude of 243.84 m above msl. The fruits of three cultivars, viz., Pant Suvarna, Pant Manohar and Pant Sudarshan were picked at three stages of maturity, i.e., 40, 55 and 70 days after fruit set. Fruit powder was prepared by two methods of drying, viz., cabinet and sun drying. For the preparation of powder uniform size, healthy and irm fruits were selected. After thorough washing, the fruits were bleached in 15% brine solution containing 500 ppm potassium meta-bisulphate for 24 h. The fruits were blanched for 2 min. and then before removal of seeds were cut into two halves, which were further cut into three pieces. The pieces were spread uniformly in aluminium trays and were dried both under the sun and in the cabinet drier to 4% moisture level. In the cabinet drier, irst the drying of pieces was carried out at 60 ± 1°C to 10% moisture content and then again dried at 70°C to 4% moisture content. The pieces were then cooled to room temperature in desiccators containing fused calcium chloride for about 10 min. and then packed in high density poly-ethylene bags. Later the dried pieces were ground to form powder which was sieved through 30 mesh sieve to obtain uniform samples. Studies on suitability of cultivars, picking dates and drying methods for the preparation of karonda (Carissa carandus L.) fruit powder Deepika Saxena, K.K. Misra and Ratna Rai * Department of Horticulture, College of Agriculture, G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar 263145, Uttarakhand ABSTRACT Three cultivars of karonda (Carissa carandus L.), viz., Pant Suvarna, Pant Manohar and Pant Sudarshan were picked at 40, 55 and 70 days after fruit set and used for the preparation of fruit powder. The powder was prepared by two methods of drying, i.e., Sun and cabinet drying. The maximum yield (21.7%) of powder was obtained in the sun-dried samples of Pant Sudarshan. Highest ascorbic acid content (30.45 mg/100 g) was found in the cabinet dried samples of 70-day-old fruits of cv. Pant Sudarshan. Phosphorus (0.447%), potassium (18.73%), iron (0.365 mg/100 g), copper (0.012 mg/100 g), and manganese (0.193 mg/100 g) contents were higher in the powder prepared from the fruits of cv. Pant Suvarna. Among the drying methods, cabinet drying resulted in better retention of nutrients and less non-enzymatic browning. In general, organoleptic score in respect of colour, texture and overall acceptability was more in cabinet-dried powder of karonda fruits picked 70 days after fruit set. Key words: Carissa carandus L., drying, physico-chemical characters, storage. *Corresponding author’s E-mail: ratnarai1975@gmail.com DOI : 10.5958/0974-0112.2016.00059.1