Physicochemical and antioxidant properties of pear juice prepared through pectinase enzyme-assisted extraction from William Bartlett variety

The aim of the study was to optimize the process for enzymatic extraction of pear juice from William Bartlett variety using central composite rotatable design (CCRD) and characterize its physicochemical and antioxidant properties. Pectinase enzyme concentration (0.4–2.4%), incubation temperature (20–70 °C) and incubation time (13–147 min) were evaluated as the independent factors of the optimization and the yield, clarity, TSS, acidity, turbidity, ascorbic acid, color and pectin were analyzed as responses. The results revealed that the enzyme concentration (A) significantly (p < 0.05) affected all the responses and increasing enzyme concentration led to an increase in the juice yield with better physicochemical characteristics. Enzyme concentration (1.90%), incubation temperature (30 °C) and incubation time (120 min) were determined to be the optimum condition to get the desired responses. The optimum conditions were experimentally validated. The derived optimum conditions were used for the production of pear juice which was further characterized for physicochemical and antioxidant properties. At these optimum conditions, pear juice of desirable quality in terms of physicochemical and antioxidant properties were obtained. Conclusively, pectinase enzyme assisted extraction has potential to enhance the yield and quality of pear juice during processing.