Technical Bulletin No.

Aonla (Emblica oficinalis Gaertn.):

Post Harvest Handling and Processing Technology

Authors
Dr. Sunil Pareek
Dr. N. S. Rathore
Dr. R.A. Kaushik

Department of Horticulture
Rajasthan College of Agriculture
MPUAT, Udaipur, Rajasthan, India

Sponsored by
National Agricultural Innovation Project
Indian Council of Agricultural Research
New Delhi, India
 INTRODUCTION

Aonla or Indian gooseberry (Emblica officinalis Gaertn) is one of the most

important non-traditional and underutilized fruits of Indian origin, having immense
potentiality of cultivation on marginal or waste lands. It belongs to the family
Euphorbiaceae and sub-family Phyllanthoidae. Aonla tree thrive well throughout the
tropical and sub-tropical parts of India either found growing wild or cultivated. Aonla is
quite hardy, prolific bearer and highly remunerative even without much care. It can be
grown easily on calcareous and slightly saline as well as alkaline soils where common
fruit crops do not thrive.

Aonla is regarded as sacred by Hindus and has great mythological significance.

According to Hindu mythology, one day meal is arranged beneath a aonla tree during
Kartik (October) when trees are laden with fruits. Hindu religion also prescribe that ripe
fruits of aonla be eaten for forty days after fast in order to restore health and vitality
known as Kaya Kalp (Benthal, 1946).

The fruit is highly nutritive and it is the richest source of vitamin 'C' among fruits
after Barbados cherry (Asenji, 1953), which is essentially having antioxidant effect on
human beings. The edible fruit tissues of aonla contain about 3 times more protein and
160 times more vitamin ‘C’ as compared to apple (Barthakur and Arnold, 1991).
Normally, single aonla fruit contains 20 times more vitamin ‘C’ in terms of antiascorbutic
value as two oranges. It contains 500 to 1500 mg of ascorbic acid per 100 g of pulp. This
is much more than vitamin ‘C’ content of guava, citrus and tomato fruits. The fruit
contains a chemical substance called leucoanthocyanin or polyphenols which retards the
oxidation of vitamin ‘C’ and presence of astringency (Sastry et al., 1958; Singh et al.,
1993). Hanif et al. (1966) noted marked antioxidant effect of gallic acid present in aonla
fruits. Thus, vitamin ‘C’ content of aonla is in no way lower than that of Barbados cherry
(Mustard, 1952; Ledin, 1958) from nutritional point of view.

The aonla fruit is valued high among indigenous medicines in India. It has been
recognized as Amritphal in oldest scriptures (Anonymous, 1952; Chopra et al., 1958). It

2
is valued as an antiascorbutic, diuretic, laxative (Nadkarni, 1927), antibiotic (Ray and
Majumdar, 1976) and acidic, cooling and refrigerant (Singh et al., 1993). Dried fruit is
useful in hemorrhage, diarrhea, chronic dysentery, diabetes, jaundice, dyspepsia and
cough. Aonla is the main ingredients in chavanprash and triphla.

Aonla may be an important fruits of future due to its high medicinal and
nutritional value, high productivity per unit area and suitability even in the wastelands
particularly in salt affected soils. It has immense scope for processing and value addition
as the fruits are not consumed fresh or in raw state as it is highly acidic and astringent.

For an underutilized species of its economic stature, the genetic improvement

work on aonla is noteworthy. It is a species researched by several research institutions
and universities and this has resulted in the development of a large number of varieties,
standardization of cultivation practices, post harvest technology and processing. The
relevant findings on post harvest management and processing have been used in this
bulletin to meet the requirement of research workers, extension workers, growers and
processors.

3
 POST HARVEST HANDLING

Post harvest management activities start immediately after harvesting of fruits at

proper maturity level. This also includes number of activities such as minimal or primary
processing at field level i.e., removing field heat, sorting, grading and packaging for
transportation, secondary processing for value addition and finally packaging and
marketing. Post harvest management of fruits depends on number of factors such as
cultivation and production practices adopted, quantity and quality of fruits obtained after
harvesting, size of farm and orchard, expected return and value addition near by if any,
etc. Production practices have a tremendous effect on the quality of fruits at harvest and
on post harvest quality and shelf life of products. In addition, environmental factors such
as soil type, temperature, relative humidity, air flow rate, frost and rainy weather also
affect the storage life and quality.

The harvest and post harvest management of aonla fruits includes proper maturity
indices, washing (removing field heat), sorting and grading, pre treatment or other
minimal processing techniques, packaging, storage, transportation and marketing. The
detailed description of these steps involved in post harvest handling is given in this
chapter.

Determination of maturity indices: Harvesting crops at the proper maturity allows

handlers to begin their work with the best possible quality produce. Fruits harvested too
early may lack flavour and may not ripen properly, while produce harvested too late may
be fibrous or overripe ( Kitinoja and Gorny, 1999). It is therefore essential to formulate
harvest indices or criteria for harvesting the fruit at the right stage of maturity. Maturity is
that stage at which a commodity has reached a sufficient stage of development that after
harvesting and post harvest handling, its quality will be at least the minimum acceptable
to the ultimate consumer. Horticultural maturity is the stage of maturity at which plant or
plant part possesses the prerequisites for use by consumers for a particular purpose (Reid,
2002).

Being an underutilized fruit crop, less attention has been given on establishing
reliable maturity indices of aonla. However, several parameters like specific gravity, TSS

4
: acid ratio, colour of fruit surface, fiber content, seed colour, heat units, days from
flowering to maturity can be used for determining maturity index of particular cultivar of
aonla in a particular region (Ojha, 1986; Singh, 1997; Singh et al., 2004).

After the fruits have set, the embryo lies in dormant condition and ovary does not
exhibit any symptom of external growth until middle of August. The diameter and
volume of the fruit increase rapidly thereafter, and the maximum growth is achieved by
November after which there is not much increase in size (Bajpai, 1968). Fruits completed
almost 70 per cent growth during last week of August to last week of September.

On the basis of season of maturity in eastern Uttar Pradesh, aonla varieties have
been classified into three groups i.e., early, mid and late season (Pathak et al., 1993). The
maturity season of aonla varieties is given in Table 1.

Table 1: Maturity season of aonla varieties

Early Mid Late

Banarasi Francis Chakaiya

Krishna NA-7

NA -10 Kanchan

NA-6

NA-9

However, maturity period is affected by various factors such as location, climate,

soil types, and other cultivation practices etc. In north Indian arid climatic conditions of
Rajasthan and Gujarat, fruits of Agra Bold, NA-7 and Banarasi matures by the last week
of October; Francis and Krishna matures by first week of November; Gujarat-1 and
Gujarat-2 by middle of November and that of Kanchan and Chakaiya by the last week of
November (Singh et al., 2006).

Specific gravity increases with the advancement of maturity and at the time of
maturity specific gravity should be 1.02 in Chakaiya; 1.03 in NA-7, Krishna and
Kanchan; 1.06 in Gujarat-2; 1.07 in Agra Bold and 1.08 in Banarasi, Francis and Gujarat-
1. Fiber content at maturity is 0.37 per cent in Krishna, 0.38 per cent in Banarasi , 0.54

5
per cent in NA-7, 0.58 per cent in Gujarat-1, 0.60 per cent in Gujarat-2, 0.65 per cent in
Agra Bold, 0.72 per cent in Francis, 0.81 per cent in Chakaiya and 0.84 per cent in
Kanchan (Singh et al., 2006).

The Fruit colour range from dull greenish yellow to translucent in various
cultivars. The fruit skin colour of various cultivars is given in Table 2.

Table 2: Fruit skin colour of aonla at maturity

Cultivar Fruit skin colour

Banarasi Thin, smooth, semi translucent, whitish green to straw yellow

Krishna Smooth, whitish green to apricot yellow in colour with red spots on
exposed surface

Francis Smooth, thick at upper side and thin at basin, light green in colour

Kanchan Smooth, light green, strips deep red at pea stage which disappear later
on

NA-6 Smooth, semi translucent, light green in colour

NA-7 Smooth, semi translucent, yellowish green

NA-8 Slightly rough, thick and light green in colour

NA-9 Smooth, semi translucent, light green in colour

NA -10 Rough, yellowish green with pink tinge

Growing Degree Days (GDD) can also be taken in consideration for

determination of maturity. GDD or heat unit summation is determined using daily
maximum and minimum temperature considering base temperature of 10oC.

Harvesting Method

The goals of harvesting are to gather a commodity from the field at the proper
level of maturity with a minimum of damage in quality and loss in quantity, as rapidly as
possible, and at a minimum cost. Careful harvesting is special consideration in aonla fruit
because damaged and spotted fruits are not useful for fresh consumption as well as
processed products such as preserve and candy. Fully developed fruits, which show sign

6
of maturity, are harvested at right time. This helps in size gain of remaining fruit. Delay
in harvesting results in heavy dropping of fruits particularly in varieties like Banarasi and
Francis. It also adversely affects the following year bearing. The method of harvesting is
hand plucking of individual fruits by bending the smaller twigs or shaking of twigs but
the fruits get damaged in later method while dropping on the ground. These dropped
fruits are the source of micro-organisms causing rots during storage to other fruits in lot
also. Therefore, aonla should never be dropped from the tree by using tree climber or
small stairs. Fruit harvester should have long climb and cotton or jute bags or pads for
collecting the fruits. Fruits should be harvested early in the morning or in the evening to
avoid the damage due to field heat. Harvested fruits should immediately be stored under
shade.

Sorting

Sorting should be done just after arrival of fruits in the packing house. Sorting of
aonla is usually done to eliminate injured, decayed, blemished, over or under sized fruits,
or otherwise defective produce before cooling or further handling. These un-marketable
fruits are called ‘culls’. Sorting will save energy and money because culls will not be
handled, cooled, packed or transported. Removing decaying produce items is especially
important since this will limit the spread of infection to other units during handling.
Sorting is generally done by manual picking over a running plateform.

Washing

Aonla fruits require washing immediately after sorting for removing field heat
and making suitable for secondary processing. Water remaining on the surface of produce
must be removed using an air flow and / or sponge rollers in automated units because
residual water may encourage fungal growth. For washing of fruits constant flow of clean
water in required quantity is essential. This tank for washing produce is made from
galvanized sheet metal, a baffle made of perforated sheet metal is positioned near the
drain pipe and helps to circulate water through the produce. Fresh water is added under
pressure through a perforated pipe, which helps move floating produce toward the drain
end of the tank for removal after cleaning. This removed water can be used for other
unproductive work including irrigation.

7
Grading

Grading is essential to meet the standards for produce packed for sale through
traditional wholesale markets. Although, more primitive market may not use written
grade standards. But the products are sorted and sized to some extent. Aonla may be
graded according to weight or diameter. So far proper grading have not been standardized
in aonla. Aonla fruits should be graded into three grades as given in Table 3 (Singh et al.,
1993).

Table 3: Grades of aonla fruits

Grade Description

A Large sized fruit according to the variety. Banarasi diameter 4.5 cm and
above, free from blemishes.

B Small sized fruit having diameter less than 4 cm and free from
blemishes.

C Defective fruits i.e., blemished scaring and necrotic fruits.

The fruits may also be graded on the weight basis (A grade = 50 ± 5 g, B grade =
40 ± 5 g and C grade = 30 ± 5 g). Highest physiological loss in weight (PLW) was
observed in C grade fruits followed by B and least in A grade fruits during 8 days of
storage period at ambient temperatures. PLW in Francis cultivar was 12.50, 16.00 and
20.50 per cent in A, B and C grade fruits, respectively on 8th day of storage (Table 4),
however, it was 6.50, 11.30 and 14.50 per cent in Chakaiya (Table 5).

Table 4: Physiological loss in weight (%) during storage of aonla cv. Francis fruits
in different size grades

Grades Days after harvest

2 4 6 8

A 3.20 7.50 11.30 12.50

B 4.50 8.75 14.50 16.00

C 6.00 13.80 16.00 20.50

8
Table 5: Physiological loss in weight (%) during storage of aonla cv. Chakaiya
fruits in different size grades

Grades Days after harvest

2 4 6 8

A 1.50 3.50 5.20 6.50

B 2.80 7.25 9.50 11.30

C 4.75 9.00 12.50 14.50

The final destination or utilization of aonla fruits is based on the size, weight and
fiber content of fruits. Large sized fruits with 45 ± 5 g weight and low in fibers should be
used for preserve, candy and pickle making, while small size fruits with medium to high
fiber contents is used in making of medicinal produce i.e., chavanprash. Small fruits with
necrosis and blemishes can be used in making trifla and for drying or powder making.
Packaging
The packaging protect the fruits from injury and water lose, and be convenient for
handling and marketing. Packages should also provide information about the product,
including the grade, handling instructions, and appropriate storage temperatures when the
product is on display. The cost of packaging is important, including whether the container
can be recycled or reused. Packaging provides protection from physical damage during
storage, transportation and marketing. Packaging also decides cost of transportation and
storage of fruits for later use. At present proper packaging is inadequate in case of aonla.
Aonla fruits are packed in gunny bags of 50 to 100 kg capacity. These fruits got impact,
vibration and compression injuries during transportation in these gunny bags. The
corrugated fiber boxes are better as this provides appropriate atmosphere and ventilation
inside the box, printable information at low cost and recyclable also. Newspaper lining
should be provided inside the CFB cartons. The appropriate size of boxes for 20 kg
capacity should be used. Minimum spoilage (16.0 %) was noticed in corrugated fiber
board boxes with newspaper liner package followed by CFB boxes with polythene liner
(17.0 %), where as it was highest in gunny bag without any liner (30.19 %) after 13 days
of storage (Singh et al., 2005a). Singh et al. (1993) conducted an experiment on different

9
package containers of 40 kg capacity during distant rail transpotation, and found that
wooden crate with polythene liner is most suitable for packing and long distance
transportation of aonla fruits. Per cent weight loss and bruising were minimum in this
container as compared to gunny bag.
Storage
The fruit availability period of aonla is very short hardly 2 to 3 months and during
November to mid January aonla fruits available in glut. Therefore, storage of fruits at
appropriate temperature is essential to extend the availability period and to stabilize the
price in the market. Being an underutilized fruit crop, very little study has been done on
low temperature, modified atmosphere and controlled atmosphere storages of this
valuable fruit.
The shelf life is very short at ambient temperatures and it is differ with various
cultivars. Singh and Kumar (1997) stored fully mature aonla fruits at room temperature,
modified storage condition, zero energy cool chamber and zero energy plusmodified
storage condition. It was found that decay loss was minimum (26.56 %) in modified
storage condition on 24th day of storage, whereas it was maximum (48.70 %) in zero
energy cool chamber. The fruits may be kept in clod storage for 7-8 days at 0-2oC and 85-
90 per cent relative humidity.
Nath et al. (1992) studied the effect of post harvest treatments on shelf life of
aonla fruits with calcium nitrate (1%), GA3 50 ppm and borax (4%) and found that the
physiological loss in weight and pathological loss increased with the length of storage
period. Calcium nitrate (1%) minimized the weight loss during the storage period and no
pathological loss was observed with borax up to 9 days of storage.
To enhance the shelf life of aonla fruits of local cultivar, Patel and Sachan (1995)
tried calcium nitrate (1%), GA3 (40 ppm), CCC (400 ppm) and kinetin (10 ppm). Fruits
were dipped in these solutions, packed in perforated polythene bags and stored at ambient
temperature. The physiological loss in weight and rotting per cent increased with the
increase in storage period. Calcium nitrate (1%) was the best treatment to minimize the
weight loss of fruits. No rotting was observed up to 9 days of storage in kinetin (10 ppm)
treated fruits. GA3 (40 ppm) treatment gave better retention of vitamin ‘C’ during storage
of aonla fruits.

10
 Singh et al. (2005a) recorded the least physiological loss in weight (2.12 - 16.00
% and 2.15 – 16.34 %) and spoilage loss (2.40 - 15.00 % and 2.50 – 15.60 %) and exhibit
11 days of storage life in fruits treated with calcium nitrate 1.5 per cent + perforated
polythene bag, and GA3 100 ppm + perforated polythene bag, while untreated control has
7 days economic life under ambient conditions. The same treatments also show lowest
respiratory activity (72.10 – 82.00 mg CO2 kg-1 h-1 and 72.00 – 82.10 mg CO2 kg-1 h-1).
Therefore, the fruits treated with 100 ppm GA3 or 1.5 per cent calcium nitrate and kept in
perforated polythene bag are effective to retain the fruit quality till the last day of storage
under ambient conditions.
Singh et al. (2005b) assessed four aonla cultivars viz., NA-7, NA-10, Krishna and
Chakaiya for their shelf life at ambient condition (18 ± 2oC and 65 ± 5% RH). In general,
the aonla fruits showed browning of skin followed by loss of glossiness after harvest
during storage. Among cultivars, Krishna and NA-10 were more prone to browning than
NA-7 and Chakaiya. The cumulative physiological loss in weight, TSS, acidity and
tannins increased, while ascorbic acid content decreased on prolonging the storage period
in all the cultivars. NA-10 and Krishna exhibited minimum loss in weight, rich in TSS,
ascorbic acid, tannins than Chakaiya and NA-7. Greenness (-a chromacity value) was
maintained in cultivar NA-10 and Krishna followed by Chakaiya during storage.
Contrary to this, maximum yellowness index (based on L, a and b values) was recorded
in NA-7 and minimum in Krishna. However, the cultivar NA-7 exhibited least browning
compare to Krishna up to 10 days of storage. Therefore, NA-10 and Krishna have better
shelf life of 10 days which retained high vitamin ‘C’ content, glossy and green
appearance compared to NA-7 which can be stored for 6-8 days only under ambient
conditions.
Conclusively, due to its perishable nature, it is difficult to store aonla fruits for
long duration or transport over long distances. In order to have good income from aonla,
it must be sold immediately in the market. But, the problem arises when there is glut in
the market. To get profit during that period, proper storage facilities should be available
to help the farmers in getting maximum profit. The extension of shelf life during storage
should be made possible by checking the rate of respiration, transpiration and microbial

11
infection. Plant growth regulators, certain chemicals, fungicides, and low temperatures
have played a great part for short period storage.

12
 PROCESSING

Anola becomes ready for harvesting from mid November to first week of January.
The produce remains in the market for a very short span. Since, it is a perishable
commodity it needs quick disposal. Huge harvest of produce during peak harvesting
season creates glut and the growers are compelled to sale their produce at low prices.
Besides, aonla is not consumed fresh or in raw state as it is acidic and astringent. It is
therefore not popular as table fruit. The excellent nutritive and therapeutic value offer
great potentiality for processing it into several quality products i.e., preserve (murabba),
squash, candy, jelly, jam, syrup, pickle, chutney, preserved pulp, blended beverage,
carbonated drinks, RTS, supari, churan, powder, barfi, laddoo, segments in sugar syrup
etc.
The post harvest losses in aonla vary from 30-40 per cent due to its perishable
nature and glut during harvesting time, which reduce the market value of the fruit. Hence,
value addition through processing would be the only effective tool for economic
utilization of increased production of aonla in future.

Traditional and modern methods of processing

Aonla has been in use for pickle and preserve since ages in India and the methods
employed were based on traditional knowledge of grandmothers. Besides aonla has been
an important ingredient for chavanprash, a ayurvedic health tonic. The methods used
previously were unhygienic in nature and time consuming. The nutritive loss in these
methods was higher. The manual methods are costly, laborious and cannot maintain
quality of the products. Minor accidents have also been reported during manual pricking
and shredding and the shelf life of the prepared products was also less and the quality not
up to the mark.
The modern methods for preparation of different aonla products are hygienic,
consume lesser time and provide maximum retention of nutrients especially vitamin ‘C’.
The processes for preparations are standardized with proper preservation. There is an
urgent need to design matching processing equipment such as grader, segment separator,
pricking machine, shredder, etc., to develop a complete pilot plant. The engineering input

13
in terms of machines will improve its quality as per international standards so that
products can compete in the international market (Goyal et al., 2008).
Aonla products: An over view
Aonla fruits are normally used to make preserve. A preserve is made from fully
matured aonla fruits by cooking it whole or in the form of large pieces in heavy sugar
syrup, till it becomes tender and transparent. Freshly made preserve is wholesome and
have an attractive appearance. When stored for a long period, natural colour and flavour
deteriorate on account of oxidative changes. They should therefore, be made only during
the season unless there are adequate facilities to store the fruits so that they are available
in the off season as well.
Although aonla preserve is quite popular, no proper attention has yet been given
for preparation of other products like jam, squash, candy, toffee, barfi, laddoo, and
preserved pulp of aonla fruits. Candy is an intermediate moisture food which is prepared
after shade drying of drained fruits impregnated with cane sugar or glucose. Like other
fruits, aonla can also be processed into good quality pulp. This can be used as base
material for preparations of different products i.e., squash, syrup, jam and nectar. Thus,
there is an overriding need to develop and popularize several other value added products
of aonla in view of the increase in the production. Availability of different products of
aonla in the market will also be served different categories of the consumers to select the
aonla product of their own choice. This in turn will benefit not only consumer, but also
aonla growers and processors by ensuring better economic returns.
Various studies suggests that many types of value added products of aonla can be
prepared and a great potential exist for better utilization of aonla than against its present
limited use in the from of preserve, chavanprash and triphla. However, more attempts are
needed to standardize the procedures for preparation of various new value added products
and to assess the suitability of aonla cultivars for preparation of these products. Also
removal of astringency from aonla fruits is important step prior to the preparation of
various value added products. At present different ingredients or chemicals such as salt,
alum and lime are used to remove the astringency in aonla However, very little
information is available with regard to their comparative effectiveness in the removal of
astringency from different aonla cultivars.

14
Varietal screening for aonla processing
Processed products of good quality can be made only from good quality raw
material hence verietal selection is one of the important factors which affects the quality
of fruit products. Singh (1984) reported that aonla, fig and ginger are ideally suited for
making of candy. Singh and Pathak (1987) evaluated five varieties of aonla for
processing based on their physico-chemical properties and organoleptic quality. Out of
these five varieties Kanchan and Krishna were suitable for candy and jam. Banarasi was
suitable for drying and Chakaiya was suitable for pickle, chutney and syrup. Bhagwan
Deen (1992) observed that NA-9 was ideal variety for candy making. Singh et al. (1993)
also reported that NA-6 is an excellent variety of aonla for making good quality candy.
Nath and Sharma (1998) reported that Chakaiya cultivar is good for making nectar,
squash, syrup and jam products. Whereas, Banarasi cultivar is better for candy and pickle
preparation. Nath (1999) observed that Chakaiya was suitable for beverages (nectar,
squash and syrup) and jam whereas Banarasi was better for candy and pickle preparation.
Singh et al. (2004) evaluated five varieties viz., NA-6, NA-7, NA-10, Kanchan and
Chakaiya for fruit processing. The variability examined in physico-chemical composition
of aonla cultivars indicated the possibility of selecting a variety or cultivars suitable for
processing. NA-6 recorded lowest content of fiber, higher content of pulp and total
soluble solids with moderate fruit size and ascorbic acid content, while NA-7 showed
average physico-chemical composition with higher content of ascorbic acid. These
varieties have also higher productivity and fruits are free from necrosis or internal
browning, hence they seem to be ideal varieties for processing. Physico-chemical
composition of aonla cultivars is given in table 6 and 7, respectively.
Table 6: Physical composition of aonla varieties
Varieties Average fruit weight (g) Pulp (%) Fiber (%) Seed (%)
NA-6 41.40 94.27 0.87 4.86
NA-7 42.90 92.97 1.33 5.70
NA-10 44.84 93.57 1.30 5.13
Kanchan 30.92 92.36 1.40 6.24
Chakaiya 35.82 93.61 1.93 43.46
CD at 5% 4.26 0.97 0.51 0.96

15
Table 7: Chemical composition of aonla varieties
Varieties TSS(%) Acidity (%) Ascorbic acid (mg 100g-1) Phenol (mg 100g-1)
NA-6 11.12 1.80 641.27 172.76
NA-7 10.96 1.95 733.63 185.10
NA-10 10.14 1.82 626.82 188.93
Kanchan 10.86 1.72 603.64 189.97
Chakaiya 9.44 2.26 655.64 179.35
CD at 5% 1.04 0.52 86.38 12.76
Referece: Singh et al. (2004)

Effect of pricking, soaking and blanching treatment on quality of aonla products

Ascorbic acid plays an important role in human nutrition. The retention of the
nutrients in the final products depends on the methods of preparation. Pricking, soaking
and blanching of aonla fruits are necessary to render the preserve and candy soft and to
facilitate uniform absorption of sugar (Kalra, 1988). There are many reports on losses of
nutrients during preparation of candy / preserve in different fruits. The loss of ascorbic
acid content during preparation of candy has been observed in aonla (Pathak, 1988;
Tripathi et al., 1988; Bhagwan Deen, 1992; Singh, 1997). Sastry and Siddappa (1959)
found that prolonged brine treatments of aonla destroy the ascorbic acid content.
Ascorbic acid content of aonla preserve decrease during preparation (Sethi, 1980). Sethi
and Anand (1982) found that 55.5 per cent ascorbic acid content is lost during
preparation of intermediate moisture food aonla preserve (including pricking, soaking
and blanching) and only 45.5 per cent ascorbic acid was retained in final product.
Tripathi et al. (1988) reported that the aonla candy retained 108.62 mg 100g-1 ascorbic
acid as against initial value of 571.76 mg 100g-1 in the fresh fruits.
Anand (1970) while studying the effect of certain pretreatments on the loss of
tannins and vitamin ‘C’ in aonla preserve found that soaking and blanching of the fruit
resulted in heavy loss of these constituents. Damame et al. (2002) reported that
unblanched dehydrated products were found to be superior to all the blanched dehydrated
products in terms of vitamin ‘C’ retention over a six months storage period. Among the
unblanched products, the aonla pulp recorded the highest vitamin ‘C’ content followed by

16
supari. Among the blanched products the aonla supari treated with 2 per cent salt was
found to be superior in vitamin ‘C’ content, aonla candy and preserve to be the most
unsuitable sources of vitamin ‘C’. Results indicate that aonla pulp, supari and juice are
the most suitable sources of vitamin ‘C’ due to minimum loss of vitamin ‘C’ content
during storage.
Jain and Khurdiya (2002) observed that blanching of the aonla fruits prior to juice
extraction significantly improved the juice recovery, increased the density and tannin
content of the juice but reduced the vitamin ’C’ content by 12 per cent. Addition of water
increased the juice volume but diluted the juice and reduced the water soluble
constituents. Higher water soluble constituents and ascorbic acid contents were obtained
by blanching the fruits and separating the segments.
The astringency in aonla fruits is due to the presence of poly phenols or tannins
which make them unpalatable but they have therapeutic value (Sastry et al., 1958). Due
to this astringency the fruit is bitter in taste. Hence, astringency can be removed by curing
with either salt or lime. Sethi (1980) recommended blanching of aonla fruits for 4
minutes in boiling water while Sethi and Anand (1983) found that 25 per cent of ascorbic
acid and 24.4 per cent of tannins in aonla are lost during blanching. Geetha et al. (2006)
observed that blanching done prior to processing of aonla preserve has marked effect on
all the physico-chemical constituents of the aonla. Ascorbic acid content during the
process of blanching reduced significantly from 563.12 mg 100g-1 (before blanching) to
434.95 mg 100g-1 (after blanching) showing a loss of 19.20 per cent in ascorbic acid.
Similarly, TSS, acidity, total sugars, reducing sugars, non-reducing sugars, moisture and
pectin content showed a loss of 10.67, 30.78, 4.95, 5.83, 2.45, 2.20 and 21.60 per cent
respectively with blanching.
Phenolic compounds are important in determining colour and flavour of fruits.
The losses of total phenolic compounds during preparation of aonla candy have been
reported by Pathak (1988) and Tripathi et al. (1988) as compared to fresh fruit. Sethi and
Anand (1982) observed the loss of tannins during preparation of intermediate moisture
food of aonla as compared to initial value in fresh fruits.
Organoleptically good quality aonla candy was prepared by various workers.
Pathak (1988) observed that 2 per cent salt solution soaking of pricked aonla fruits was

17
organoleptically ideal. Bhagwan Deen (1992) and Singh et al. (1993) observed that
organoleptically good quality aonla candy was prepared with 2 per cent salt and alum
soaking of pricked fruits each for 24 hours.

Techniques of preparation for processed products of aonla

Aonla fruit is sour and astringent in taste, hence it is not popular as a table fruit.
The excellent nutritive and therapeutic value of fruit has great potentiality for processing
into value added products. Presently aonla fruit has significance in medicinal
(Chavanprash, Triphala, Amrit Kalash, Amal Rasayan etc.) and cosmetic (hair oil,
shampoo, hair dyes etc.) products. Very little attention has been paid towards the value
added food products as these food items can get position in national and international
markets. The most suitable recipe determined by organoleptic evaluation for some of the
important products is described here.

Pulp extraction technique

Nath (1999) carried out a study on the extraction of aonla pulp and suggested a
method for preparation of aonla pulp from fully matured fruits. In this process, the fruits
are blanched in boiling water for about 10 minutes to separate the segments from stone.
Equal quantity of water is added to the segments and in the pulper to make pulp. If the
pulp has to be preserved, it should be heated to 75oC and cooled to room temperature.
Potassium meta-bi-sulphite (2g kg-1 of pulp) should be mixed thoroughly and the pulp
should be filled in clean sterilized bottles and then sealed. The flow chart illustrating
extraction of aonla pulp is given in Figure 1.

18
 Matured aonla fruit

Washing

Heating in boiling water for 10 minutes

Separation of segments and removal of seeds

Addition of water in ratio of 1:1

Passing through a pulping machine

Pulp

Squash Jam Toffee

Fig. 1. Flow sheet for extraction of aonla fruit pulp
This process involves attention for retention of vitamin ‘C’ at the time of
separation of segments and removal of seeds. It has been observed that there is
approximately 30 to 35 per cent loss of vitamin ‘C’ at the time of heating in boiling
water.
Recent pulp extraction technique
In this method most of unit operations are same as mentioned above, except
process for separating segments and removing seeds from fruits. In this method a
shreadder machine can be used for removing seeds instead of putting in boiling water for
10 minutes. The flow chart for this technique is shown in Figure 2.

19
 Fully matured aonla fruits

Washing for removing field heat and sanitization

Shreadder machine Seeds removed

Shreades + addition of water in 1:1 ratio

Passing through a pulping machine

Pulp

Squash Jam Toffee

Fig. 2. Flow chart for extraction of aonla fruit pulp through mechanization

Pickle
Small sized aonla fruits, which are not suitable for preparation of preserve and
other confectionary items, may be utilized for pickle making. To improve upon the
texture of the fruit and also to remove astringency brining is important in pickling. The
flow chart for preparation of aonla pickle is given in Figure 3. When pickle is ready after
few days, store it at room temperature (Fig. 3)

20
 Method -1 Method-2
Selection of fruits Selection of fruits

Washing Washing

Manual/machine pricking Blanching for 10 minutes

Treating with salt water Conversion into segments and seed removal
for few days

Add spices, oil Draining of moisture (sun drying for 2 hours)

Leave it for few days in sunshine Mixing with ingredient (fried)

Aonla pickle Packing (glass bottles 500 g capacity)

Store it at room temperature storage at room temperature

Fig. 3. Flow sheet for preparation of pickle.

Premi et al. (2002) standardized the method for preparation of instant oilless
pickle from aonla. Two varieties of aonla (Desi and Chakaiya) were used for the
preparation of dehydrated oilless pickle. The overall quality of dehydrated pickle made
from pretreated segments of Desi variety was better than variety Chakaiya. For curing
aonla fruits for pickling, brining along with potassium meta-bi-sulphite was found to be
more effective for long term storage than dry salting or other pretreatment for controlling
of white specks, better retention of texture and nutrients in both the varieties. The drying
rate was faster in pickle made from cured and steam blanched segments of local variety
than in other variety. The recipe used for oil less aonla pickle is given in Table 8.

21
Table 8: Recipe for dehydrated ready-to-use aonla pickle

S. No. Ingradients (g) Whole fruits Segments

1 Whole aonla 1000 -
2 Aonla segments - 1000
3 Salt 150 150
4 Red chillies 10 10
5 Mustard 75 75
6 Ginger 50 50
7 Onion 150 150
8 Garlic 20 20
9 Jaggery 100 100
10 Cinnamon 10 10

Juice extraction
Jain and Khurdiya (2002) standardized a procedure for the extraction of juice
from aonla fruits. Blanching the fruits prior to juice extraction significantly improved the
juice recovery, increased the density and tannin content of the juice but reduced the
vitamin ‘C’ content by 12 per cent. Addition of water increased the juice volume but
diluted the juice and reduced the water soluble constituents. Higher soluble constituents
and vitamin ‘C’ content were obtained by blanching the fruits and separating the
segments. The relative efficacy of 12 different methods of juice extraction is given in
Table 9. Among the methods of juice extraction, centrifugal juice extraction recorded
higher density, soluble constituents and higher vitamin ‘C’ and tannin contents as
compared to crushing and pressing whole or segments of aonla fruits.

22
Table 9: Effect of different techniques of extraction on the juice yield and quality
of aonla juice
Juice Ascorbic
S. TSS Acidity
Process recovery Density pH acid
No (oB) (%)
(%) (mg100g-1)

1 Crushing and pressing whole

66.0 1.10 6.0 0.789 2.90 375
fruits
2 Crushing and pressing whole
168.0 1.00 3.0 0.47 2.87 203.6
fruits with water (1:1) ratio
3 Blanching, crushing and
70.0 1.14 6.0 0.78 2.98 321.4
pressing whole fruits
Blanching, crushing and
4
pressing whole fruits with 172.0 1.01 3.5 0.47 2.86 135.7
water (1:1) ratio
5 Crushing and pressing fruits
61.0 1.04 6.0 0.78 2.89 335.7
segments
6 Crushing and pressing fruits
157.8 1.00 4.0 0.47 2.88 221.4
segments with water (1:1 ratio)
7 Blanching, crushing and
64.4 1.08 7.0 0.78 2.90 321.4
pressing fruits segments
8 Blanching, crushing and
pressing fruits segments with 167.6 1.00 4.0 0.55 2.86 207.1
water (1:1 ratio)
9 Centrifugal juice extraction
45.8 1.12 7.0 0.94 2.90 478.6
from fruits segments
10 Centrifugal juice extraction
from fruits segments with 140.0 1.01 4.0 0.43 2.84 185.7
water (1:1 ratio)
11 Centrifugal juice extraction
47.8 1.20 7.5 0.94 2.90 417.8
from blanched fruits segments
12 Centrifugal juice extraction
from blanched fruits segments 150.0 1.01 3.5 0.39 2.82 178.6
with water (1:1 ratio)
Reference: Jain and Khurdiya (2002)

23
Blended juice
Various workers have explored the possibilities of utilizing aonla fruit for the
preparation of juice and beverages (Prasad et al., 1968; Singh and Kumar, 1995; Nath
1999; Deka et al., 2001). Although, aonla fruit juice and beverages prepared there from
have poor consumer acceptance yet, could be utilized for vitamin ‘C’ enrichment of other
fruit juice based beverages. These vitamin ‘C’ rich natural drinks if given due publicity
can replace synthetic drinks and overcome the vitamin ‘C’ deficiency in people world
over.
Deka et al. (2001) conducted different experiments to study the feasibility of
blending juices and pulp from lime, aonla, grapes, pineapple and mango in different
preparation for the manufacturing of a ready-to-drink fruit juice beverage. The highest
sensory scores were obtained with a formulation comprising of 95 per cent lime and 5 per
cent aonla juice. Process flow chart for preparation of aonla juice is shown in figure 4.
Jain and Khurdiya (2004) conducted an experiment to develop vitamin ‘C’ rich
RTS beverages prepared from apple, lime, pomegranate, Perlette and Pusa Navrang grape
juice fortified with aonla juice. For juice extraction, aonla fruits were blanched, seed
removed manually, and segments were fed to centrifugal juice extractor. The juice was
strained and pasteurized at 90oC for 1 minute, filled in sterilized glass bottles, crown
corked, and air cooled. Juice from other fruits was extracted using standard methods, and
pasteurized as aonla juice. The aonla juice was mixed with each of apple, lime,
pomegranate, Perlette, and Pusa Navrang grape juice in the ratio of 0:100, 10:90, 15:85,
20:80, 25:75, 80:70, and 50:50. All the 40 blends were then adjusted with requisite
proportion of water, sugar, and citric acid in order to contain 10 per cent juice, 10 per
cent TSS, and 0.22 per cent acidity except lime-aonla blend which had 5 per cent juice,
10 per cent TSS, and 0.22 per cent acidity. All the blends were pasteurized at 90oC for 1
minute before packing in sterilized glass bottles of 200 ml capacity. On the basis of
overall sensory quality and vitamin ‘C’ content, RTS beverage prepared by blending
aonla and Pusa Navrang grape juice in 20:80 ratio was found to be the best.
Therefore, if aonla juice is blended with other fruit juices for the preparation of
RTS beverages, it boosts their nutritional quality. These fruit juices in turn improve the

24
acceptability of aonla juice. These natural fruit drinks have great future in developing and
expanding the beverage industry in India and overseas.

Selection of aonla fruit

Washing

Shredding direct extraction of juice

Extraction of juice

Filter

Homogenization

Pasteurization

Filling in bottles

Sealing

Storage

Fig 4. Flow sheet for preparation of aonla juice

Ready-to-serve (RTS)
Various recipes have been standardized for RTS from aonla pulp/juice with or
without ginger and spices. However, simple RTS can be prepared by taking 10 per cent
pulp and 12 per cent total soluble solids with 0.3 per cent acidity. Juice is extracted
separately and sugar syrup of desired strength prepared separately by boiling sugar with

25
water and adding citric acid towards the end of boiling. Succumb can be removed from
the syrup. After cooling of syrup at room temperature, mix the syrup and juice,
homogenize, and fill in the bottles and crown corked the bottles. Then bottles are
pasteurized in boiling water for 20 minutes, air cooled and stored for use. Flow sheet for
preparation of ready-to-serve beverage is given in figure 5.
Extraction of juice

Prepare syrup solution (sugar + water + acid)

Cooling syrup up to room temperature

Mixing juice and syrup

Homogenization

Bottling

Crown corking

Pasteurization

Cooling

Storage

Fig. 5. Flow sheet for preparation of RTS

Squash
To prepare 15 litres of aonla squash, 3.75 kg pulp should be mix in sugar solution
to have a final product having 45.00 per cent juice/pulp, 50.00 per cent TSS, and 1.00 per
cent acidity (FPO specifications). The syrup can be prepared by dissolving 8.1 kg sugar

26
and 120 g citric acid in 4.5 litres of water. Dissolve the sugar and citric acid by heating
the solution. Cool the syrup and strain through a thin cloth. Add the juice and mix at
properly along with preservative (6 g KMS). Fill the squash in 1 liter bottles and close the
lid. Flow sheet for preparation of aonla squash is given in Figure 6.
Juice extraction

Prepare sugar syrup (sugar + water + acid)

Cooling of syrup at ambient temperature

Mixing juice with syrup solution

Addition of preservative (KMS)

Filling into clean sterilized bottles

Capping

Labeling

Storage

Fig. 6. Flow sheet for preparation of squash

Nectar
Nectar can be prepared by taking 10 per cent pulp and 12 per cent TSS with 0.3
per cent acidity and 350 ppm SO2. To prepare 10 litres of aonla nectar, one kg pulp
should be mixed in sugar solution. The syrup can be prepared by dissolving 1.2 kg sugar
and 20 g citric acid in 7.6 litres of water by slow heating. Remove the solution from
flame when sugar is properly dissolved and strain it properly. Add the pulp after cooling
the solution. Mix the preservative (1 g KMS) and homogenize it properly. Nectar is filled

27
in 200ml bottles and crown corked. The flow sheet for preparation of nectar is given in
Figure 7.
Aonla pulp

Prepare sugar syrup (sugar + water + acid)

Cooling of syrup at ambient temperature

Mixing pulp with syrup solution

Addition of preservative (KMS)

Homogenization

Filling into clean sterilized bottles

Capping

Labeling

Storage

Marketing

Fig. 7. Flow sheet for preparation of nectar

Syrup
Syrup from aonla pulp can be prepared according to FPO specifications i.e., 45
per cent pulp, 68 per cent TSS and 1.2 per cent acidity. The procedure for the preparation
of syrup is similar to that of squash.

28
Jam
Jam is a product made by boiling fruit pulp with sugar and citric acid to a
desirable thick consistency. The ideal fruit jam should have minimum 45 per cent pulp,
68 per cent total soluble solids and 0.5 per cent acidity. Best quality jam can be prepared
from the varieties which have low fiber content and more pulp percentage. To prepare
aonla jam, first pulp is extracted from the fruit. This pulp mixed with the desired quantity
of sugar and citric acid and this mixture is cooked to desired consistency. The end point
judged by hand refractometer (68o Brix) or by drop test or sheet test. The recipe contains
1 kg pulp, 1.25 kg sugar and 5 g citric acid. Flow sheet for preparation of jam is given in
Figure 8

Pulp

Mixing with sugar

Cooking

Addition of citric acid

Judging of end point (TSS 68oB) by hand refractometer / drop test / sheet test

Bottling

Capping

Labeling

Storage

Marketing
Fig. 8. Flow sheet for preparation of jam

29
Herbal Jam
Singh et al. (2005d) standardized the recipe for preparation of herbal jam. They
prepared the different recipes for preparation of 5 kg herbal jam (Table 10). Recipe No.-1
containing 50 per cent aonla pulp, 75 per cent asparagus + 2 per cent ashwagandha
extract with 68 per cent TSS and 1-2 per cent acidity was found the best and it was
closely followed by recipe No.2 which contained 10 per cent asparagus juice. Herbal
extracts added in aonla pulp for preparation of jam improved the medicinal quality and
attract the market. The procedure for preparation of herbal jam is exactly same as that of
simple jam given in Figure 8.

Table 10: Organoleptic quality of herbal jam prepared from different recipes

Aonla Organoleptic
Asparagus Ashwagandha Sugar Acidity
Recipes pulp quality
juice (%) extract (%) (%) (%)
(%) Score Rating
Liked very
1 50 5 2 68 1.2 8.3
much
Liked very
2 50 10 2 68 1.2 8.1
much
Liked
3 50 15 2 68 1.2 7.2
moderately
Liked
4 50 20 2 68 1.2 6.8
moderately
Reference: Singh et al. (2005).
Herbal squash
Singh et al. (2005d) standardized the recipe for preparation of herbal squash. Five
different recipes with or without asparagus juice and ginger juice were developed (Table
11). Asparagus and ginger juice were mixed with aonla pulp and the remaining procedure
was as such followed for simple squash given in Figure 6. A recipe containing 25 per
cent aonla pulp, 5 per cent asparagus extract and 2 per cent ginger juice with 50 per cent
TSS and 1.2 per cent acidity was found most ideal for preparation of herbal squash

30
Table 11: Organoleptie quality of herbal squash prepared from different recipes

Aonla Ginger Organoleptic quality

Asparagus TSS Acidity
Recipes pulp juice
juice (%) (%) (%) Score Rating
(%) (%)
1 25 - - 50 1.2 5.9 Liked slightly
Liked very
2 25 - 2 50 1.2 8.0
much
Liked
3 25 5.0 2 50 1.2 8.8
extremely
4 25 7.5 2 50 1.2 6.6 Liked slightly
5 25 10.0 2 50 1.2 5.8 Liked slightly
CD at 5% 0.6

Candy
The flow sheet for preparation of aonla candy is given in Figure 9.

Matured fruits

Washing with water

Pricking

Dipping in 2% salt solution (24 hours)

Washing with water

Blanching in boiling water

Steeping in 50% sugar syrup (24 hours)

Steeping in 60% sugar syrup (24 hours)

31
 Steeping in 70% sugar syrup (24 hours)

Steeping in 75% sugar syrup (24 hours)

Drawing of excess sugar syrup

Coating with pectin or sugar

Shade drying up to 15% moisture

Packing in polyethylene pouches

Store in cool and dry place

Fig. 9. Flow sheet for preparation of aonla candy
A fruits impregnated with can sugar or glucose and subsequently drained and
dried is called a candied fruit. Aonla candies are becoming more and more popular
because of high acceptability, minimum volume, higher nutritional value and longer
storage life. These have additional advantages of being least thirst provoking and ready to
eat snacks.
Singh and Pathak (1987) reported that aonla fruit can be utilized for making
excellent quality of candy or intermediate moisture food (IMF). Pathak (1988) described
the technology for preparation of aonla candy. The recipe contained 1 kg aonla fruit, 1 kg
sugar and 1.5 kg water.
Tandon et al. (2003) studied the effect of blanching and lye peeling on candy
preparation. They found that the candy prepared from lye peeled fruits of aonla showed
decreased content of ascorbic acid than blanched fruits. The candy prepared from
Lakshmi-52, Kanchan and Chakaiya was found the best. However, the effect of the
blanching on some of nutritional parameters was less severe than that of lye peeling.
Singh et al. (2003) conducted a study to find out the techno-economic feasibility of
processing of aonla products of pulp based (jam, squash, sauce) and non pulp based

32
(candy ). They found that the per litre processing cost of squash and cost of 1 kg candy
was much lower than that the cost of 1 litre sauce and 1 kg jam.
Singh et al. (2005d) prepared aonla candy with four different recipe viz., whole
fruit with sugar coating, segmented fruit with sugar coating, whole fruit with pectin
coating, and segmented fruits with pectin coating. Candy prepared from segmented fruit
with pectin coating recorded the highest organoleptic score because of most attractive
colour and taste, followed by whole fruit candy with pectin coating. Pectin coating
improved the quality of candy, hence it has better consumer appeal. The candy prepared
from aonla fruit has bright scope for both internal and external market.

Preserve
Aonla fruits are normally used to make preserve. A preserve is made from fully
matured aonla fruits by cooking it whole or in the form of large pieces in heavy sugar
syrup, till it becomes tender and transparent. Improved method for preserve making
includes the washing and selected bold fruit are dipped in 2 per cent common salt
solution until the green fruit changes to a creemish colour, with replacement of the brine
solution on alternate days. The fruits are thoroughly washed, pricked with a stainless steel
pricker and then blanched in boiling water for 4 to 5 minutes. Sugar equal to the weight
of fruits is sprinkled over the fruit and kept overnight. The next day, boiling is given to
the whole mass and syrup is then drained out. The syrup is thoroughly boiled and
concentrated by adding more sugar to 55oB strength and mixed with fruit. The following
day the fruit are taken out and syrup is concentrated to 75oB by adding sugar and boiling.
Aonla fruit are added back and allowed to stand in syrup for couple of days. When the
TSS of the syrup stabilizes at around 70oB, the preserve is packed in clean, sterilized, dry
glass jars and stored at ambient room temperature away from direct sunlight. The flow
sheet for aonla preserve is given in Figure 10.

33
 Fruits

Washing

Pricking by mechanical pricker

Washing with fresh water

Soaking in alum and lime

Washing with fresh water

Blanching (boiling water for 5 minutes)

Washing with fresh water

Steeping with syrup solution concentrating by adding and boiling

(TSS 40, 50 and 60oB for 24 hours)

Steeping in TSS 70oB for a week

Packing

Labeling

Storage
Fig. 10. Flow sheet for preserve making

Central Institute for Arid Horticulture (CIAH) developed a new modified protocol
for preparation of murabba (Anonymons, 2003). Fully matured uniform big size fruits of
NA-7, were harvested, selected and cleaned. The fruits were pricked and kept in 2 per
cent salt solution for 24 h, again the fruits were washed and subjected to 2 per cent alum
solution for 24 h, the fruits were washed thoroughly, sugar syrup were prepared

34
separately. The fruit are boiled for three minutes and allowed to boil in the syrup solution
for another 5 to 6 minutes. In this method when the fruits are boiled along with sugar
syrup, the moisture inside were replaced by sugar. The fruits are packed in a container
kept for three days, the syrup solution were heated to remove excess moisture drained
from fruits. The murabba are packed in container and stored for 8 to 9 months. The
advantage over other methods is to repeat change of concentration daily could be
avoided.

Segments in syrup
The fruits are blanched in boiling water for 6-8 minutes and segments are
separated. The segments are dipped for 24 h each in increasing concentration of syrup of
50, 60 and 70oB by adding sugar with boiling and segments are immersed in it and
packed in clean jars.

Churan
Tandon et al. (2005) standardized the procedure and recipe for preparation of
churan from dried aonla powder. The aonla fruits were blanched in boiling water for 6-8
minutes. The segments were separated out into 3-4 pieces and dried in electric dehydrator
at 60oC for 6-7 h. The retention of vitamin ‘C’ content after blanching and subsequent
drying was found to be 78 and 49 per cent, respectively. The pieces were then ground to
powder form and various ingredients mixed. Among fourteen combinations of
ingredients tried for churan, two combinations, having 1-5 g ginger and 0.5 g ajwain and
1.0 g ginger and 2.5 g mint apart from other ingredients (100 g aonla powder, 8 g salt, 16
g black salt, 15 g sugar, 3 g citric acid, 2 g black pepper, 1g asafoetida, 1 g tannin and 1
g fennel), were found to be most acceptable. The flow sheet for preparation of churan is
given in Figure 11.
Matured aonla fruits

Blanching in boiling water for 6 – 8 minutes

Separation of segments

35
 Electrical dehydration at 60oC for 6 to 7 hours

Powdering

Mixing ingradients

Packaging
Fig. 11. Flow sheet for manufacturing churan
Since in this process, the retention of vitamin ‘C’ is hardly 50 per cent. Therefore,
alternately a ecofriendly option through integration of solar tunnel drying can be
employed, which can be designed as per requirement and produces high retention
capacity as far as vitamin ‘C’ is concerned in final products. The flow sheet for
preparation of churan through this method is given as follow in Figure 12.
Aonla fruits

Shreadding through machine Seeds removed

Shreads spreading in solar dryer

Dried products

Grinding into powder

Mixing ingradients

Packaging in polythene

Storage / marketing
Fig. 12. Flow sheet for manufacturing aonla churan

Sauce
Recipe: Pulp 1 kg, sugar 75 g, salt 10 g, onion 50 g, garlic 5 g, ginger 10 g, red
chilli powder 5 g, hot spices 10 g, acetic acid 2 ml and sodium benzoate 0.25 g.

36
Technique: The flow sheet for preparation of aonla sauce is given in Figure 13.
Pulp

Mix with 25g sugar

Heating

Add extract of onion, garlic, ginger, chillies and hot spices

Cooking

Add glacial acetic acid and remaining sugar

Heating

Testing of end point for desired consistency

Add salt and sodium benzoate

Bottling

Crow corking

Processing in boiling water for about 20 minutes

Cooling & Labelling

Storing / marketing
Fig. 13. Flow sheet for preparation of sauce

37
Chutney
Recipe and technique used: Recipe containing aonla pulp 1 kg, cumin10 g,
turmeric powder 3 g, ginger 10 g, black pepper 2 g, sugar 1 kg, fenugreek 100 g, salt 50
g, red chilli powder 2 g, garlic 10 g, mustard 1 g and vinegar 40 ml. The flow sheet for
preparation of chutney is given in Figure 14.
Fruits

Steam for 15 minutes in pressure cooker

Pass through mixi

Fine pulp

Mix with ingredients

Cook the mixture to a desired consistency

Add glacial acetic acid

Filling into glass bottles

Cooling

Storage
Fig. 14. Flow sheet for preparation of chutney

Chavanprash
Chavanprash is a health tonic mentioned in Indian system of medicine i.e.,
Ayurveda. It is prepared by mixing the aonla pulp pest and sugar while cooking. In this

38
mixture spices and medicinal plants extracts are added for further cooking. Recipe
contains the following items
Aonla 1 kg Dasmul 4g
Sugar 1.5 kg Bala 5g
Black pepper 10 g Jeevanti 5g
Javitri 10 g Pushakarmul 5g
Jayphal 10 g Bayaskashta 5g
Colve 10 g Haritaki 5g
Small cardamom 10 g Guruchi 5g
Large cardamom 10 g Nilkamal 5g
Dried ginger 10 g Ashwagandha 10 g
Small pipali 10 g Satavari 10 g
Caveman 10 g Butter (Ghee) 20 g
Muktasukti pishti 1g Linseed oil 10 g
Banslochan 10 g Abharak bhasm 1g

Shreads and Drying

Pragati et al. (2003) conducted an experiment on effect of drying methods on
nutritional composition of dehydrated aonla fruit during storage. Aonla fruit cv. Chakaiya
was dried using four different methods viz., osmo-air drying, direct sun drying, indirect
solar drying and oven drying. The osmo-air drying method was found to be the best
method for drying of aonla because of better retention of nutrients like ascorbic acid and
sugars. The level of antineutrients like tannins was also found to be lower in osmo-air
dried aonla compared to other methods of drying because of leaching. Browning of the
dehydrated fruits was also minimal in the case of osmo-air dried fruits. The nutrient
content in osmo-air dried aonla was satisfactory after 90 days of storage.
The raw and KMS treated samples of Banarasi and Chakaiya varieties were
dehydrated by sun and mechanically dried (60oC) for the preparation of aonla powder
(Sharma et al., 2002). The processed dehydrated powder was packed in 100 gauge
packages of high density polyethylene (HDPE) and low density polyethylene (LDPE).
The packages were stored under ambient (5-18oC and 60% RH) and refrigerated (4 + 1oC

39
and 90% RH) conditions. It was found that the aonla powder prepared from pretreated
Chakaiya variety and mechanically dried can be stored effectively in HDPE packages
under refrigerated condition for 3 months without much loss in vitamin ‘C’, having better
overall acceptability in terms of appearance, taste, flavour and texture.
Processes for dehydrated aonla powder have been standardized by Alam and
Singh (2005). The pricked aonla fruits were blanched for 5 minutes in 5 per cent boiling
salt solution containing 0.15 per cent NaHCO3 and 0.10 per cent MgO. The blanched
aonla fruits were sulphited for 30 minutes in 0.5 per cent KMS. The treated fruits were
sliced manually with knife. For the dehydration of aonla slices, the mechanical dryer (50,
60 and 70oC), solar and cabinet dryers were used. They found that the mechanically dried
slices contained higher in vitamin ‘C’ content and were organoleptically superior to slices
dried under solar and cabinet dryer
Kavitha et al. (2003) studied the effect of osmotic dehydration on vitamin ‘C’
content of aonla at different salt concentrations and different temperatures. The over all
retentions of vitamin ‘C’ was found better in the un-blanched osmotically dehydrated and
air dried samples. Drying study of aonla was also conducted by Singh et al. (2006) in a
batch type pilot scale solar tunnel dryer (80-85 kg wet product batch) with open sun
drying as control. The collector area of the dryer was 25 m2. The dryer is 2.0 m wide,
with a 4.5 m solar air heater and a drying tunnel of 8.0 m. The heater and dryer are
covered with UV stabilized polyethylene film. Solar photo-voltaic (SPV) operated axial
flow fans have been provided at one end to put fresh air to the dryer. The air flow through
the tunnel was around 300-600 m3 h-1. Sixty five kg de-seeded blanched aonla pieces
were uniformly spread over the drying trays @ 4.75 kg m-2. Initial moisture content of
aonla was around 85 per cent. Aonla pieces were dried in the tunnel in five and half days
as compare to ten days in open sun drying in the month of October. Average drying
temperature in the tunnel and in open was 54.3oc and 36.5oC. The average solar
insulation during drying days was 600 Wm2. Moisture content of aonla dried in the tunnel
dryer and in open sun were 3.2 per cent and 3.9 per cent, respectively. The quality of the
solar tunnel dried aonla was found to be superior in terms of lower bacterial count, better
appearance and acceptability.

40
 LITERATURE CITED

Alam, S. and Singh, A. 2005. Process for dehydration aonla powder. Abstract presented
in Convention of Indian Society of Agricultural Engineers, 39: 222.
Anand, J.C. 1970. Effect of pretreatments on the loss of tannins and vitamin C in aonla
and aonla preserves. Indian Food Packer, 36: 38-43.
Anonymous. 1952. Wealth of India – Raw Materials. Vol. 1.3. CSIR, New Delhi.
Anonymous. 2003. Annual Report 2003-04. Central Institute for Arid Horticulture,
Beechwal, Bikaner, Rajasthan, India. Pp. 83.
Asenji, C.F. 1953. The story of West Indian cherry (Malpighia punicifolia L.). Boletin
del colegio de Químicos de Puerto Rico. 10: 8-11.
Bajpai, P.N. 1968. Studies on flowering and fruit development in aonla (Emblica
officinalis Gaertn.). Horticulture Advances, 7: 38-67.
Barthakur, N.N. and Arnold, N.P. 1991. Chemical analysis of the emblic (Phyllanthus
emblica L.) and its potential as a food source. Scientia Horticulturae, 47: 99
-105.
Benthal, A.P. 1946. Trees of Calcutta and its neighbourhood. Thacker Apink and Co.
Ltd., Calcutta.
Bhagwan Deen. 1992. Studies on screening pf aonla (Emblica officinalis Gaertn.)
genotypes for processing. MSc. (Ag.) Thesis, N.D. University of Agriculture
and Technology, Faizabad, UP, India.
Chopra, R.N., Chopra, I.C., Handa, K.L. and Kapoor, L.D. 1958. Chopra’s Indigenous
Drugs of India. U.N. Dhur and Sons Pvt. Ltd., Calcutta.
Damame, S.V., Gaikwad, R.S., Patil, S.R. and Masalkar, S.D. 2002. Vitamin C content
of various aonla products during storage. Orissa Journal of Horticulture, 30:19-
22.
Deka, B.C., Sethi, V., Prasad, R. and Batra, P.K. 2001. Application of mixture
methodology for beverage from mix fruit juice/pulp. Food Science and
Technology, 38: 615-618.

41
Geetha, N.S., Kumar, S. and Rana, G.S. 2006. Effect of blanching on physico-
chemical characteristics of aonla. Haryana Journal of Horticulture Science, 35:
67-68.
Goyal, R.K., Patil, R.T., Kingsly, A.R.P., Walia, H. and Kumar, P. 2008. Status of
post harvest technology of aonla in India – A review. American Journal of
Food Technology, 3: 13-23.
Hanif, M., Rahman, J., Ahmed, I., Bhatty, M.K. and Karimullah. 1966. The antioxidant
factor of aonla fruit. Journal of Science of Research, 18: 61-63.
Jain, S.K. and Khurdiya, D.S. 2002. Studies on juice extraction of aonla (Emblica
officinalis Gaertn.) cv. Chakaiya. Journal of Food Science and Technology, 39:
515-516.
Jain, S.K. and Khurdiya, D.S. 2004. Vitamin C enrichment of fruit juice based ready-
to-serve beverage through blending of Indian gooseberry (Emblica officialis
Gaertn.) juice. Plant Foods for Human Nutrition, 59: 63-66.
Kalra, C.L. 1988. The Chemistry and Technology of Aonla : A Resume. Indian Food
Packer, 42 : 67-82.
Kavitha, C.V., Sreenarayanan, C.T., Devdas and Krishanaven, S.K. 2003. Effect of
osmotic dehydration on vitamin C of aonla. Abstract presented in Annual
Convention of Indian Society of Agricultural Engineers, 37: 134.
Kitinoja, L. and Gorny, J.R. 1999. Post Harvest Technology for Small Scale Produce
Marketers: Economic Opportunities, Quality and Food Safety. University of
California, Davis, Post Harvest Horticulture series 21.
Ledin, R.B. 1958. The Barbados or West Indian cherry. Bulletin No. 594. University of
Florida, Agriculture Experiment Station, Gainsville, Florida.
Mustard, K.J. 1952. Ascorbic acid content of some miscellaneous tropical and sub-
tropical plants and plants products. Food Research, 17: 31-35.
Nadkarni, K.M.1954. Indian Materia Medica. S.K. Bijur, Mumbai.
Nath, V, and Sharma, R.K. 1998. Screening of aonla (Emblica officinalis Gaertn.)
cultivars for processing. Progressive Horticulture, 30: 67-77.
Nath, V. 1999. Delicacies of aonla. Indian Horticulture, 44: 15-17.

42
Nath, V., Singh, I.S., Kumar, S. and Pandey, A.K. 1992. Effects of post harvest
treatments on shelf life of aonla fruits. Progressive Horticulture, 24: 79-82.
Ojha, C.M. 1986. Physico-chemical changes during growth, development and storage
of aonla (Emblica officinalis Gaertn.) fruits. M.Sc (Ag.) thesis, ND University of
Agriculture and Technology, Faizabad, UP, India.
Patel, A.B. and Sachan, S.C.P. 1995. Extension of storage life of aonla fruits. Indian
Food Packer, 49: 43-46.
Pathak, R.K., Srivastava, A.K., Diwedi, R. and Singh, H.K. 1993. Aonla Descriptor.
Department of Horticulture, N.D University of Agriculture and Technology,
Faizabad, UP, India. Pp. 24.
Pathak, S. 1988. Post- harvest technology of aonla (Emblica officinalis Gaertn) fruits.
Ph. D. Thesis, N.D. University of Agriculture and Technology, Faizabad, UP,
India.
Pragati, Dahiya, S. and Dhawan, S.S. 2003. Effect of drying methods on nutritional
composition of dehydrated aonla fruits (Emblica officinalis Gaertn) during
storage. Plant Foods for Human Nutrition, 58: 1-7.
Prasad, P.S.R.K., Surya Prakash Rao, P.V., Nageswara Rao, G. and Girdhar, N. 1968.
Some preliminary studies on utilization of aonla ( Phyllanthus emblica Linn.).
Indian Food Packer, 22 (6): 8-11.
Premi, B.R., Sethi, V., and Bisaria, G. 2002. Preparation of instant oilless pickle from
aonla (Emblica officinalis Gaertn.). Indian Food Packer, -: 72-75.
Preserve. Indian Food Packer, 24: 16-19.
Ray, P.G. and Majumdar, S.K. 1976. Antimicrobial activity of some Indian plants.
Economic Botany, 30: 317-320.
Reid, M.S. 2002. Maturation and maturity indices. In: Post Harvest Technology of
Horticultural Crops (Editor: Kader, A.A). University of California. Pp. 55.
Sastry, M.V. and Siddappa, G.S. 1959. Studies on Indian preserves. Food Science, 8:
398-399.
Sastry, M.V., Siddappa, G.S. and Lal G. 1958. Chemical and microbial analysis of some
important canned preserves. Indian Journal of Horticulture, 15: 26-31.

43
Sethi, V. 1980. Studies on preparation and storage of some semi dry preserve
(Murrabba). Ph.D. thesis, Indian Agricultural research Institute, New Delhi,
India.
Sethi, V. and Anand, J.C. 1982. Physico- chemical and microbiological quality of carrot
and aonla preserves. Indian Food Packer, 36: 38-43.
Sethi, V. and Anand, J.C. 1983. Retention of nutrients in carrot and aonla
preserve. Indian Food Packer, 37: 64-67.
Sharma, S.R., Alam, S. and Gupta, S. 2002. Storage study on dehydrated aonla powder.
Abstract presented in Annual Convention of Indian Society of Agricultural
Engineers, 35: 155-156.
Singh, B.P., Pandey, G., Sarolia, D.K., Pandey, M.K. and Pathak, R.K. 2005a. Shelf-
life evaluation of aonla cultivars. Indian Journal of Horticulture, 62: 137- 140.
Singh, I.S. 1984. Fruit vegetables utilization and preservations (in Hindi). Directorate of
Extension, N.D. University of Agriculture and Technology, Faizabad, UP, India.
Singh, I.S. 1997. Aonla – An Industrial Profile. N.D. University of Agriculture and
Technology, Faizabad, UP, India. Pp17.
Singh, I.S. and Kumar, S. 1995. Studies on the processing of aonla fruits. II Aonla
products. Progressive Horticulture, 27: 39-47.
Singh, I.S. and Pathak, R.K. 1987. Evaluation of aonla (Emblica officinalis Gaertn.)
varieties for processing. Acta Horticulturae, 208: 173-177.
Singh, I.S., Pathak, R.K., Diwedi, R. and Singh, H.K. 1993. Aonla Production and
Post Harvest Technology. Department of Horticulture, N.D. University of
Agriculture and Technology, Faizabad, UP, India. Pp.34.
Singh, P., Singh, J.P. and Chopra, C.S. 2003. Techno-economic study on processing of
aonla products. Beverage and Food World, 30: 68-69.
Singh, P.L., Ganesan, S. and Singh, S. 2006. Drying study of aonla (Emblica
officinalis Gaertn.) in a solar tunnel dryer. Indian Food Packer, 60: 47-51.
Singh, R. and Kumar, S. 1997. Studies on the effect of different storage conditions on
decay loss of aonla var. Chakaiya. Haryana Journal of Horticultural
Science, 26: 9-12.

44
Singh, S., Singh, A.K. and Joshi, H.K. 2004. Fixation of maturity standards in Indian
gooseberry (Emblica officinalis Gaertn.) under semi arid ecosystems of
Gujarat. Proceeding of First Indian Horticulture Congress- 2004 during 6- 9th
November, 2004. Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi. Pp. 341-
342.
Singh, S., Singh, A.K. and Joshi, H.K. 2005a. Prolonging storability of Indian
gooseberry (Emblica officinalis Gaertn.) under semi arid ecosystem of
Gujarat. Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences, 75: 647-650.
Singh, S., Singh, A.K. and Joshi, H.K. 2005c. Effect of size grading on quality and
shelf life of aonla (Emblica officinalis Gaertn.) cv. NA-7. Proceeding of
National Seminar on Commercialization of Horticulture in Non-traditional Areas,
Indian Society of Arid Horticulture, CIAH, Bikaner, during February, 2005.
Singh, S., Singh, A.K., Joshi, H.K., Bagle, B.G. and Dhandar, D.G. 2005b. Heat unit
summation – an index for predicting fruit maturity in aonla (Emblica officinalis
Gaertn.) under semi arid tropics of Western India. Proceedings of 8th Indian
Agricultural Scientists and Farmers Congress, B.H.U., Varanasi and Bioved
Research and Communication Center, Allahabad, 20-22 February. Pp. 123.
Singh, V., Singh, H.K. and Chopra, C.S. 2005d. Studies on processing of aonla
(Emblica officinalis Gaertn.) fruits. Beverage and Food World, 32: 50-52.
Tandon, D.K., Dikshit, A. and Kumar, S. 2005. Development of churan from dried
aonla powder. Beverage and Food World, 32: 53-54.
Tandon, D.K., Yadav, R.C., Sood, S., Kumar, S. and Dikshit, A. 2003. Effect of
blanching and lye peeling on the quality of aonla candy. Indian Food Packer,
57: 147-149.
Tripathi, V.K., Singh, M.B. and Singh, S. 1988. Studies on comparative compositional
changes in different preserved products of aonla var. Banarasi. Indian Food
Packer, 42: 60-66.

45