Development of Micronutrient Mango Nectar Fortified With Moringa (Moringa Oleifera. Lam) Leaf Extract

Abstract

Kenya is Africa's third-largest mango grower, but postharvest losses have increased due to fruit perishability, limited cold storage and insufficient value addition. Mango nectar contains vitamins and minerals but not enough micronutrients and phytochemicals. Moringa oliefera leaves contain vitamins and nutrients that could increase the nutritional value of mango nectar. The present study's overarching goal was to create mineral-rich mango nectar enriched with moringa leaf extract. Mango samples from two commonly produced types, Apple and Tommy Atkin, as well as moringa leaves, were collected from smallholder farmers in Machakos and Kajiado and delivered to the University of Nairobi's Faculty of Agriculture. After the mango pulp was extracted, 25% of the mango pulp was blended with 0, 10, 12.5 and 15% of Moringa oliefera leaf extract to create eight unique products: four from Apple mango fruit pulp (F1 control, F2 blended with 10% moringa leaf extract, F3 blended with 12.5% moringa leaf extract, and F4 blended with 15% moringa leaf extract), and four from Tommy Atkin mango (F5 control, F6 blended with 10% moringa leaf extract, F7 blended with 12.5% moringa leaf extract and F8 blended with 15% moringa leaf extract), which were subjected to sensory analysis to establish the best formulation before examination of chemical, nutritional, and phytochemical features. The best acceptable product (F1control and F3 blended with 12.5% moringa leaf extract for apple mango fruit and F5 control and F6 blended with 10% moringa leaf extract for Tommy mango pulp) was used to analyze the microbiological quality, physicochemical and phytochemical properties at 30-day intervals for 90 days of storage using the Association of Official Analytical Chemists' Methods...