Low-sugar apples jam with hibiscus extract: textural, phytochemical and nutritional aspects

Abstract

Nowadays, there is an increase in consumer demands for healthy products, whereas the low-calorie products are gaining increasing popularity. Apples are the most consumed fruits worldwide, especially due to the compositional diversity of health-promoting bioactive compounds, such as phenolics, organic acids, dietary fiber, vitamin C and B, minerals, fibers, etc. In this study, four types of apple jams were obtained, by exploring the potential of Hibiscus aqueous extract to inhibit the color changes, that negatively affected the acceptability of the products. Four jam variants were obtained, by varying the type and quantity of sugar, in order to align to the new trends regarding the development and analysis of low-sugar jams. Significant differences (p<0.5) were observed in color, phytochemical profile, texture, nutritional parameters and products acceptability. Firmness varied between 0.61±0.01 N and 0.82±0.01 N, for control samples, and 0.85±0.02 N and 0.99±0.02 N for the samples treated with hibiscus infusion. The type and sugar concentration did not significantly influence the firmness. No significant differences were observed for the samples with sugar or xylitol addition in terms of adhesiveness, cohesiveness, springiness and chewiness. Moreover, the hibiscus infusion showed beneficial effects on texture parameters. The phytochemical parameters results showed an increased content in polyphenols, flavonoids and anthocyanins in Hibiscus infused samples, whereas no significant impact on antioxidant activity was observed. The overall impression of the products highlighted the consumer preferences for the jam with xylitol, followed by low sugar jam.