Effect of citric acid concentration on physico-chemical properties, bio-active compounds and sensory attributes of dried jackfruit bulb slices during storage

Abstract

In today’s fast-paced world, it is necessary to minimize losses by developing processing techniques for jackfruit. The study was conducted to prepare dried jackfruit bulb slices from mature jackfruit and the effect of citric acid concentration was also investigated. The sensory quality of jackfruit after frying was evaluated in terms of color, flavour, taste, texture, crispiness, oiliness and overall acceptability. Jackfruit (khaja variety) was collected, cleaned, peeled, scoped and the bulb was sliced into two equal parts. The bulb slices were dried in a cabinet dryer at 65±2oC for 8±1 hrs. Then, the dried jackfruit bulb slices were fried at 140±2°C for 2-3 mins. Analysis showed that there was a considerable effect of citric acid concentration on dried jackfruit bulb slices. After 90 days, moisture content was increased for all the dried samples. All three dried samples showed the same decreasing pattern for ash, pH, ascorbic acid and total carotenoid content. However, the lowest amount of ash (16.67%), ascorbic acid (70%) and total carotenoid content (36.57%) loss were observed in the 1% citric acid-treated sample at 90 days of storage compared with the others. After 90 days, comparatively higher lightness, b and browning value was found in the same sample. From the sensory analysis of fried samples, it was observed that the sample soaked with 1% citric acid obtained the highest score for overall acceptability (7.40±1.27) in the 9-point hedonic rating scale that was significantly different from the control sample (without treatment). In conclusion, citric acid-treated samples gave a better result than the untreated ones (Control) because citric acid acts as a preservative. It is recommended that a 1% citric acid-treated sample can be used industrially to produce quality dried jackfruit bulb slices.