Product Development of Mango Puree from Different Varieties of Mango (Mangifera indica) Grown In Sri Lanka

Abstract

Thermal processing is a widely used technique to preserve foods, which could be applied to mango to produce a desert food named mango puree. The study was conducted to extend the shelf life of mango by processing a good quality mango puree. Well ripened firm fruits of ''Willard", "karthakolomban" and "gira" mangoes were selected and peeled. Then the pulp was ground and added 0.3% of pulp weight of ascorbic acid followed by thermal processing. The products were subjected mango puree with exhausting treatment and followed by sterilization process at 121 'C for 15-20 minutes. Ascorbic acid is a natural water-soluble(Vitamin C). Ascorbic acid was used as an effective chemical preservative. It reduces the pH of the product. Thereby, it reduces the growth of food spoilage bacteria, suppers the enzyme activity, reduce the resistance to heat of several micro-organisms during canning. Physio-chemical measures analysis using turkey test. Significance different at 5% level were observed in moisture content, pH, reducing sugar and titratable acidity. The chemical composition of fresh mango puree and stored mango puree were analyzed to determine the nutrient preservation ability of the product. The result indicates that the preserved product has not lost its nutritional value. A sensory evaluation test using Hedonic 9 point scale ranking method based on colour, flavor, texture and overall quality was conducted and data were analyzed using Analysis Of Variance Method (ANOVA). The sensory evaluation showed for the fresh samples, Karthakolomban mango puree sample (T1) had highest preference for the colour, aroma, taste and overall acceptance and T2 gained the highest rate in texture. Therefore most preferred mango puree is T1 sample. (Karlhakolomban) After the storage for four weeks, T4 (Karthakolomban) gained the highest rate in colour, aroma, taste and overall acceptability and T5 obtained highest rate in texture. So, the most preferred mango puree sample, is the T4 sample after the one month storage period. The microbial analysis tests showed, there was no growth of micro-organisms in samples. Therefore, shelf life of the mango puree with exhausting treatment is better product with long shelf life. The study concluded that mango fruits could be preserved as mango puree for one month without losing their nutritional and sensory attributes.