A new product composed of Galia melon pieces combined with natural Galia or Cantaloupe melon juices or
different commercial juices was developed. The natural juices were freshly obtained and heat treated for 3
min at 70 C. Each sample was composed of 100 mL of juice and 50 g of Galia melon pieces packed in
polypropylene trays and stored at 5 C up to 7 days. Microbial counts, vitamin C, total soluble solids, pH,
titratable acidity and sensory analysis were performed. At the end of the storage, treatments with natural
juices showed higher psychrotrophic (5.3e5.1 log cfu g1), total aerobic bacteria (4.3 to 4.6 log cfu g1) and
lactic acid bacteria (5.1e5 log cfu g1) counts. This was due to the high pH (6.7 to 7.1) compared to the low
pH (3.5) from commercial ones. Vitamin C contents were higher on melon pieces combined with natural
juices. The sensory panel did not find major differences on sensory parameters. Considering the results,
fresh melon pieces with Cantaloupe juice is a good alternative by the high vitamin C content and no added
sugar. However, the shelf-life period could be extended reducing the pH which would ensure an optimal
microbiological quality.