DEVELOPMENT OF AN ICE APPLE (BORASSUS FLABELLIFER) JELLY WITH NATURAL SWEETENER AND DETERMINE ITS QUALITY PARAMETER

Abstract

The Borassus flabellifer, often known as the Ice Apple fruit or the palm fruit, has a taste similar to coconut water and a texture resembling lychee. It is a delightful exotic summer delicacy. It is a popular fruit in our country. However, very few studies are available regarding this. Development of jelly from this fruit is a different fruit commodity. The motto of this study to make a unique jelly using ice apple as mother ingredients while altering different type of sweetener instead of sugar. Total four formulations have been used using different concentration of sweetener; honey (50%and 33%) date (50% and 33%). A control sample was made using 50% sugars. The ice apple jelly with 33% honey had earned the greatest sensory acceptance rating of 8.80±0.42 out of five jelly formulations. The vitamin C and mineral contents were also found 25.22mg/100 and 2.75mg respectively which were acceptable than the other samples and proved its soundness nutritionally. However, crude fibre amount was recorded 1.11% that is relatively lower than the another sample. The energy content was found 284.5kcal/100g. The total viable count was found to be within an acceptable range after 15 days of storage at a cold temperature (8±2º C), and fungal activity was not seen. The high concentration of exceptional phytochemicals may therefore qualify it as a functional food.