Standardization of Pre-treatments for the Development of Intermediate Moisture Food Products from Papaya (Carica papaya L.)

In the present study, pre-treatments have been standardized for the preparation of intermediate moisture products from papaya viz. osmotically dried slices and candy. Out of various treatments tried, the pretreatment consisting of blanching of fruit slices for 1 minute with 0.2% citric acid followed by dipping in 0.2% KMS for 20 minutes was standardized.

Osmotically dried papaya contained 5.6% moisture, 55^oB TSS, 0.26% acidity, 16.4mg/100g ascorbic acid and 1395.46 μg/100g carotenoids whereas candied papaya contained 16.13% moisture, 46.8^oB TSS, 0.12% acidity, 16.5mg/100g ascorbic acid and 1543 mg/100gm carotenoids content. A slight increase in moisture and reducing sugar took place whereas decrease in total sugar, ascorbic acid and carotenoids was noticed during storage. The developed products remained shelf-stable for 6 months at ambient temperature with minimum changes in their physico-chemical and sensory attributes.