Effects of L-ascorbic acid addition on micro-filtered coconut water: Preliminary quality prediction study using

article i nfo Article history: 1 H-NMR FTIR GC-MS Coconut water was processed through 2-stage microfiltration system and L-ascorbic acid (25 mg/100 ml) was added to it, and then stored at 4 °C. Micro-filtered coconut water, with (AS) or without (US) added ascor- bic acid was analyzed on 0 and 21 days of storage, using 1 H-NMR, FTIR and GC-MS. The spectral analyses revealed that the addition of L-ascorbic acid to micro-filtered coconut water was able to retain methyl-α- D-rhamnopyranoside (prime glycoside detected in micro-filtered coconut water) better in AS than US, and also controlled the formation of free fatty acids and delayed rancidity in AS. Good correlation was found be- tween these spectral results. PCA for both FTIR and 1 H-NMR data sets presented the separation of fresh and stored micro-filtered coconut water samples. While still in the early stages of investigation, this work showed the potentiality of 1 H-NMR, FTIR and GC-MS tools for monitoring the changes in micro-filtered coconut water. Industrial relevance: Recently, microfiltration of coconut water has been found to be an alternative to thermal sterilization. A preliminary study was undertaken to study the effect of addition of L-ascorbic acid on the quality of micro-filtered coconut water, by using 1 H NMR, FTIR and GC-MS, mainly to detect the tentative chemical changes occurring in it during low temperature storage (4 °C for 21 days). High correlation was found between the results of these instrumental methods, the use of which can be used as key determinants for assessing the