DEODORIZING MORINDA CITRIFOLIA (MENGKUDU) STRONG ODOR JUICE BY β-CYCLODEXTRIN-ORGANIC ACIDS INCLUSION

Morinda citrifolia (noni) which is locally known as mengkudu in Malaysia, is a small evergreen tree usually found growing in open coastal regions at sea level and in forest areas. It has been reported to have  various therapeutic effects, including having anticancer activities, in clinical practices and laboratory animal models. However, consumers mostly avoid consuming mengkudu products due to  mengkudu’s sensory properties such as a strong rancid-like odor that is released when the mengkudu fruit is fully ripe. Therefore, this study was  conducted to determine the effectiveness of β-cyclodextrin in deodorizing the unpleasant odors in mengkudu juice which are mainly caused by medium chain fatty acids such as hexanoic acid, octanoic acid and decanoic acid. Initially, the optimal molar ratio for the encapsulation of hexanoic, octanoic and decanoic acid by β-cyclodextrin was constructed as a model system prior to the encapsulation of the juice. The formation of inclusion complex between all acids and β-cyclodextrin was verified by means of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Next, four dry weight ratios of mengkudu juice to β–cyclodextrin (1:0.5, 1:1, 1:1.5 and 1:2) were selected to determine the degree of the effectiveness of β-cyclodextrin in encapsulating unpleasant odors via gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Based on the results, inclusion complex formation was confirmed by DSC through the disappearance of a melting point for pure acid, and shifting to a lower melting point from the pure β–cyclodextrin after the encapsulation process. Moreover, there were significant differences observed between hexanoic acid and octanoic acid content in the mengkudu juice before and after adding β-cyclodextrin (p<0.05). On the other hand, the results obtained from GC-MS and sensory evaluation had contributed to an optimum entrapment of fatty acids at the optimal dry weight ratio of 1:0.5 (dry weight of mengkudu: β-cyclodextrin). Hence, the ability of β-cyclodextrin as a masking agent has been proven to be able to reduce the odor-based fatty acids in mengkudu juice.