Noni Juice Extraction: Process Evaluation and Design for Efficiency

Abstract

A study examined factors affecting the time of drip extraction of noni (Morinda citrifolia) juice. The factors studied were the presence of noni fruit peels, temperature of extraction, extraction time, water addition during extraction and the quantity of fruits used for extraction. Morinda citrifolia juice was dripped extracted from the noni fruit to determine the influence of temperature, time and mass of fruit on the drip extraction process separately before combining these factors to design a CCRD experiment. The effect of each factor was assessed with a factorial experiment followed with analysis of variance. Temperature and mass of fruit extracted were found to affect the time of drip extraction and the quality of juice produced in terms of yield and physio-chemical characteristics of the juice of which pH and total soluble solids were considered. Using the CCRD, different combinations of fruit mass (0.5, 0.8, 1.25, 1.7 and 2 kg), temperature of extraction (30, 36.08, 45, 53.92 and 60oC) and extraction time (3, 6.65, 12, 17.35 and 21days) were used to drip juice from the noni fruit. Total soluble solids content, pH and juice recovered in terms of yield were measured after each extraction. CCRD results showed that the responses of pH, total soluble solids and yield were in good agreement with the theoretically predicted values of the model. Total soluble solids content and pH were significantly affected by temperature of extraction and the extraction duration (time) whiles noni juice yield was significantly affected by the mass of fruit drip extracted.