Abstract:
The beetroot is a root vegetable packed with many essential micronutrients. However, the utilization of
beetroot for the development of value added products is still to be revealed. Therefore, the aim of this
research was to develop low sugar jam using beetroot as a way of popularizing the vegetable jam in Sri
Lanka. Product optimization was done by preparing four different beetroot jams i.e. T1 - cooked
beetroot/strawberry flavor, T2 - cooked beetroot/no strawberry flavor, T3 - blanched
beetroot/strawberry flavor and T4 - blanched beetroot/no strawberry flavor with the processing steps;
heat the pulp (50% w/w), adding sugar (27% w/w) at 105°C for 15 min, and addition of pectin (1% w/w)
and citric acid(0.3% w/w).Similarly, three different concentrations of raw beetroot pulp i.e. T l- 40% w/w,
T2-45% w/w, T 3-50% w/w were prepared and stored in glass jar under4 °C. The best processing method
and the best concentration to develop beetroot jam were selected through sensory analysis using 30 semi-trained panelists. Proximate composition of selected best concentration was measured initially and TSS,
pH, TPG, and yeast & mold count were analyzed in one week interval for two months. The flavored raw
beetroot pulp was selected as the best processing method while 50% w/w raw beetroot pulp was selected
as the best concentration. Proximate composition of the best concentration was 52.53 % of moisture, 2.93
% of ash, 8.6% of crude protein, 3.5 % of crude fiber and 0.17% of crude fat The TPC and yeast & mold
count did not exceed the 102 during the two months of storage period under 46C. Therefore, it can be
concluded that beetroot can be effectively used to develop a low sugar vegetable jam because the final TSS
value of the developed jam was within the standard TSS value for low sugar jam.
