Comparative study on physicochemical and antioxidant properties of fermented papaya vinegar using different ripeness of Eksotika papaya and the incorporation of ginger

Jong, Yvonne Ching Chin (2025) Comparative study on physicochemical and antioxidant properties of fermented papaya vinegar using different ripeness of Eksotika papaya and the incorporation of ginger. Final Year Project, UTAR.

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Abstract

Papaya (Carica papaya) is a tropical fruit widely grown in Malaysia, particularly the Eksotika variety. Papaya vinegar, produced by the fermentation of papaya fruit, is gaining niche popularity both locally and internationally due to its health benefits. Antioxidant properties of vinegar are always a key factor influencing consumers’ purchasing decisions, since they are closely associated with human health. Meanwhile, ginger is a traditional medicine plant valued for its high nutritional and bioactive compound content. This study was conducted to investigate the total phenolic and total flavonoid content, DPPH radical scavenging assay, and reducing power assay of the fermented papaya vinegar using different papaya ripeness with the incorporation of ginger. This included the vinegars fermented from ripe papaya with and without ginger (R and RG), unripe papaya with and without ginger (U and UG), as well as a mix of ripe and unripe papaya with and without ginger (RU and RUG). Among the fermented papaya vinegars, a greater TPC was found in vinegar U (35.63 ± 1.07 mg GAE/100 g), RG (32.60 ± 0.47 mg GAE/100 g) and UG (31.91 ± 0.70 mg GAE/100 g). Meanwhile, TFC did not differ significantly (p > 0.05). In terms of DPPH radical scavenging activity, the vinegar RU (26.31 ± 4.38%) exhibited a higher %RSA while vinegar U had a lower %RSA (4.35 ± 6.64%). Lastly, the vinegar R demonstrated the highest reducing power, which was 876.11 ± 20.37 μmol FS/L. In general, the results indicate that papaya vinegar is high in phytochemicals that beneficial to human health. Vinegar produced using ripe papaya has better physicochemical and antioxidant profiles, whereas the addition of ginger during vinegar fermentation had no significant impact on these profiles. Future analysis could be conducted on the sensory profiles, enzyme content and nutritional values of the papaya vinegars.

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