Development of Mixed Fruit Leather Using Five Tropical Fruits

Abstract

Fruit leathers are dehydrated sheets of fruit purees or a mixture of fruit juice concentrate and other ingredients with high nutritive value and organoleptic properties. The mixed fruit leathers were produced from purees of five tropical fruits namely mango, pineapple, banana, papaya and passion. The fresh fruits were pureed and they were mixed with other ingredients such as sugar and pectin and then dried in a cabinet air dryer at 60oC for 12-14 hours. All fruits were mixed in the same proportion while different sugar levels such as no sugar, 10%, 20% and 30% used as treatments. The physico-chemical, microbial load and organoleptic properties of the freshly prepared samples were evaluated. The titratable acidity of 0.5% (as citric acid) and pH of 3.8 were low just after preparation of product. The moisture content and the TSS of the fruit leather was 22% and 56.7 oBrix respectively, immediately after drying. The physico-chemical parameters such as pH and titratable acidity were not significantly differed while the TSS and the moisture content of the treatments were significantly differed at 5% significant level immediately after preparation. Sensory analysis was carried out using 14 trained panellists to evaluate the colour, taste, mouth feel and overall acceptability of the developed fruit leathers using a 5-point hedonic scale. Results of sensory analysis revealed that there were significant differences (p<0.05) for colour, aroma, taste, mouth feel and overall acceptability and no significant differences (p>0.05) for aroma among freshly developed treatments. Based on sensory analysis, the fruit leather produced with 20% sugar showed the best organoleptic characteristics. The product was highly acceptable when it was stored in polypropylene (300 gauge) at the ambient temperature of 30°C based on the nutritional, microbiological and sensory qualities. The produced leather could be used to replace fresh fruits and 36g is equivalent to 200g of fresh fruits. It is very much convenient to consume 36g of fruit leather to fulfil the fresh fruit recommended requirement of 200g per day.