Standardization of blended guava and papaya fruit bar

Abstract

Guava and papaya are two commercially important crops grown widely standing 4th and 5th position in production among fruit crops in India thereby holding a prominent place among fruits. These fruits are rich in different phytochemical components like vitamins, minerals etc. On the other hand, these two fruits also suffer high post-harvest losses. Keeping this in view the present investigation was carried out on “Standardization of blended guava and papaya fruit bar”. Fruit bar prepared from guava pulp only recorded maximum yield (29.18 %) and drying ratio was 3.56. The lowest yield (24.15 %) was observed in fruit bar prepared from papaya pulp only and drying ratio was 3.85. In blended fruit bars at initial stage the values were in the range of ascorbic acid (43.81- 226.6 mg/100g), carotenoids (0- 1627.1 μg /100g), reducing sugar (35.74-46.10 %), nonreducing sugar (21.22-32.83 %) and total sugar (65.67-73.57 %). Fruit bar prepared from 40 per cent guava pulp and 60 per cent papaya pulp was found superior with respect to sensory characteristics at initial and also during subsequent storage period. However, all the samples were found to be acceptable after four months of storage at room emperature. The fruit bar samples packed in biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP) showed better result with respect to nutrient retention and sensory characteristics. Microbially all the samples were found to be safe from consumption point of view till the end of four months of storage. Hence, blending of guava and papaya pulps to make fruit bar was found to be effective in yielding a product of nutritionally rich, stable and highly acceptable product