Premium
Process Parameter Optimization for the Development of Ready‐to‐Eat Instant Sand Pear Candy Using Response Surface Methodology
Author(s) -
Baniwal Poonam,
Hathan Bahadur Singh
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of food processing and preservation
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.511
H-Index - 48
eISSN - 1745-4549
pISSN - 0145-8892
DOI - 10.1111/jfpp.12575
Subject(s) - pear , instant , response surface methodology , ascorbic acid , dehydration , food science , mathematics , chemistry , horticulture , biology , biochemistry , statistics
The present study aimed to optimize the process parameters for the development of ready‐to‐eat ( RTE ) instant sand pear candy using response surface methodology. The independent variables were solute concentration, process temperature and process duration. The responses evaluated for deciding the optimum conditions were water loss, solute gain, color difference, water activity, ascorbic acid, hardness and overall acceptability. The derived optimum conditions were used for the development of sand pear candy to check the validity of the quadratic model. The results showed that 70 °Brix solute concentration, 70C temperature and 110.15‐min duration were the most desirable optimum osmo‐convective dehydration conditions for the development of RTE instant sand pear candy with a slight increase in crude fat, protein, ash and crude fiber. However, the percentage of total dietary fiber was found to be low as compared to the fresh fruit. Microstructural changes using scanning electron microscopy were also observed between the fresh fruit and candy. Practical Applications Sand pear is a seasonal fruit available for a short period of time. However, owing to its nutritional benefits, it should be consumed regularly. Sand pear can be processed into candy so that it can be made available throughout the year for the consumers. Also, traditional candy‐making process is a long time process (4–5 days), but the candy prepared from this method takes only 4–5 h with minimum loss of nutrients and time.