Conformity of Fruit Nectar Samples to Libyan Specification Standards

The aim of this study is to evaluate the quality characteristics of physical, chemical and microbiological of some fruit nectar samples produced from some local and imported companies and sold in the city of Tripoli, and to determine their conformity with Libyan specification standards. In this study, 40 samples of different fruit nectars (grape, pineapple, guava, orange, apple, and mixed fruits) were collected from different local supermarket, five imported companies and 4 domestic which were available at the time of study. The Samples were classified based on their type of fruit nectars and also marked as (A, B, C, D) and (E, F, L, M, N) for different domestic or imported and imported companies respectively. The results showed that all the samples were free from artificial colours added. Local and imported samples were conform with the Libyan specification standards (990-2014) for fruit nectars. Five local and four imported samples were unconfirmed with the standards. In terms of acidity, some local and imported samples were conform to the Libyan specification standards, except one local sample and 5 imported samples. However, 35.3% of local samples and 43.5% of the imported samples unconfirmed to the Libyan standard specifications. Microbiological results showed that all local and imported samples were free from total bacterial count, yeasts and molds and coliform bacteria. Heavy metals (cadmium, lead, arsenic, copper, zinc, iron) of local and imported samples were conform to the Libyan specification standard, except 3 samples of imported products were had higher arsenic concentration. Based on the results of this study which indicated the importance of quality control programs for such products not only during production but also during storage and sales due to possibility of contamination and spoilage.