Development and quality evaluation of retort pouch packed tender jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus L.)

Abstract

Jackfruit is a seasonal organic fruit and it is popularly used as vegetable in its tender stage. Though it is a highly nutritious commodity, post harvest wastage is huge due to its perishable nature. ‘Koozha’ jackfruit can be better used in tender stage since the wastage of ripened ‘Koozha’ variety jackfruit is more compared to ‘Varikka’. The significant wastage of ‘Koozha’ variety is because of less consumer acceptance due to its poor texture after ripening, necessitated the design of a viable processing and packaging technology to extend its shelf life. Hence the present study on “Development and quality evaluation of retort pouch packed tender jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus L.)” was undertaken with specific objectives of standardization of blanching process, standardization of thermal process in retort pouch package, shelf life study and quality evaluation of retort pouch packed tender jackfruit. Blanching treatment was optimized as three minutes with 0.3% citric acid preservative based on the enzyme test and the results of the quality parameters like texture, colour and crude fibre content. The standardized thermal process time for pasteurization at 90°C to reach F 10 was 24 minutes and for sterilization at 121°C for attaining F 0 value one was 15 minutes. After optimal blanching, the samples were packed in retort pouches with prior addition of preservatives like brine (2%), citric acid (0.3%), KMS (0.1%) and their combination using the optimized thermal process time - temperature. Shelf life study and quality evaluation in terms of TSS, titrable acidity, pH, vitamin C, crude fibre, texture and colour were done. The experiments were statistically analyzed with one way ANOVA. The samples preserved in citric acid exhibited good quality attributes and better acceptability in sensory evaluation. Microbial analysis also showed that the product was safe upto 90 days of storage. It was concluded that 0.3% citric acid blanching and 0.3% citric acid preservative as filling solution was best in terms of quality parameters and microbial analysis for the development of thermally processed and retort packed tender jackfruit. The cost of operation per pouch (140 g) for tender jackfruit was calculated as Rs. 11.51/-. Thisstudy is useful for the production of good quality, safe, affordable priced tender jackfruit in ready to cook form throughout the year.