Development of a Jam Using Bilin Fruit (A verrhoa bilim bi L.) and Evaluation of Its Sensory and Physico - chemical Properties

Abstract

Bilin (Averrhoa bilimbi L.) is tropical fruit grow in many countries including Sri Lanka. The fruit has a very short shelf-life up to 4-5 days resulting in higher postharvest loss and is unable to store more than 7-8 days even it is chilled in the field at the time of harvest Bilin fruits have a limited processing and home scale usage as dried salted nuts and traditional pickles in Sri Lanka. At present, Bilin is not widely used in any other commercial products such as jam or jelly due to lack of knowledge, for even about home scale processing. The objectives of this research were to utilize Bilin fruit for jam product formulation. Fruits in proper maturity condition (length > 3.0 cm and light green colour) were selected for experimentation. Fruit pulp was prepared by blending fruit slices using a food processor. Three different formulations were prepared by changing the pulp to sugar ratio at lOOOg: lOOOg (Ti), lOOOg: HOOg (T2) and lOOOg: 1200g ( T 3 ) . According to the sensory evaluation, T 2 was selected as the most accepted jam formulation. T 2 was analyzed for colour (L*=22.81±0.44, a*=0.78±0.06, b*=4.74±0.47), titratable acidity (1.58±0.04%), pH (3.26±0.15), vitamin C (8.15±0.42 mg/lOOg), total soluble solids (68.20±0.50), moisture content (26.57± 1.83) and crude fiber content (1.06±0.08). Bilin jam can be prepared with fruit pulp to sugar ratio of lOOOg: 1100 g with acceptable sensory attributes.