Development Of Intermediate Moisture Product From Wild Fig (Ficus auriculata)

Abstract

Wild fig (Ficus auriculata) fruits are highly nutritious, yet an under-utilised fruit was highly perishable in nature .A study was undertaken to analyse the quality parameters of the fresh fruit, at three different stages of maturity (30, 60 and 90 days). Even though it is nutritious, because of its low TSS content, it is not a widely accepted fruit. In order to enhance the acceptability and palatability , this study aims to develop an IMF product , by adopting the osmotic dehydration technique, using sugar and honey as hypertonic solution followed by a secondary drying using cabinet dryer. The study concluded that the honey based candies followed by 50 degree Brix sugar based candies were of acceptable sensory and physico- chemical quality and it is comparable with the commercially available dried fig (Ficus carica).