Abstract:
Woodapple (Feronia limonia L.) is a delicious tropical fruit, which belongs to family
Rutaceae. Seasonality of the fruit limits to substantial level of postharvest losses and
usage for producing value added products throughout the year. Development of fruit
leather is a promising alternative to preserve pulp as a delicious stable product at
ambient temperature and to reduce the losses during the season. The best formulation
was selected out of four treatment formulations. The developed fruit leathers were
subjected to sensory evaluation with 30 un- trained panelist using 9-point hedonic
scale and keeping quality tests. The best formulation for the woodapple leather was
80 % pulp, 20 % sugar, 1.5 % liquid glucose, 3 % gelatine and 0.2 % preservative
(Sodium metabisulphite (SMS), E223). Woodapple pulp with the ingredients were
mixed and heated until reached 30 oBx followed by dehydration using air convection
tray dryer with 5 - 6 mm thickness at 65 ±1oC for 8 hours. SMS was added and mixed
just after heating the mixture. Physico-chemical parameters were moisture content
(14.55 ±0.40%), titratable acidity (4.48%), pH (3.18), texture (1.78 kg) and colour
(0.96 Hue and 6.05 Chroma). The thickness of the leather, 4 mm and polyethylene
(300 gauge) packages were selected. The shelf life was two months at ambient
temperature (28 ±2 oC). Microbiological quality parameters; TPC 30 cfu/g and yeast
& mould count 20 cfu/g were compatible with the standards for fruit leather. Mean
scores of the sensory attributes were colour 3.70 ±0.18, flavour 3.80 ±0.19, texture
4.50 ±0.17, aroma 4.13 ±0.20 and overall acceptability 3.82 ±0.15.In conclusion the
above best formulation is recommended for woodapple pulp leather production with
2 months storability at (28 ±2 oC). Wood apple pulp mixed fruit leathers and
extended storability test and degradation kinetics of nutrients are recommended for
further studies.
Keywords: Woodapple, dehydration, fruit leather, shelf life, pulp
