The Journal of Phytopharmacology, 2018;7(1):13-18 DOI:10.31254/phyto.2018.7104

Research Article

Adding value to wild Himalayan fig (Ficus palmata): Composition, functional and sensory characteristics of jam

Kajal Kumari¹ , Somesh Sharma¹ , V.K. Joshi¹ , Surabhi Sharma²

Kajal Kumari,Somesh Sharma,V.K. Joshi,Surabhi Sharma

1. School of Bioengineering and Food Technology, Shoolini University, Solan, Himachal Pradesh, India
2. College of Agriculture Sciences, Chandigarh University, Ropar, Punjab, India

*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Received: 24th July, 2017 / Accepted: 10th December, 2017

Abstract

Wild Himalayan fig is an underutilized wild fruit with various nutritional components. The fruit was evaluated for different parameters like crude fibre value (18.90 - 16.38 %), total phenols (72.6 – 65.4 mg/100g) and the energy value (99.84 Kcal). The shelf life of this fruit was enhanced by converting it into value added product like jam. To standardize the technology for jam preparation, different treatments were designed by varying the concentration of pectin and citric acid. Among these treatments, T3C1 containing 0.7 percent pectin and 0.3 percent citric acid was found best with higher titratable acidity (12.02%) as citric acid, ascorbic acid content (1.24mg/100g), total sugar (66.42 %) and reducing sugar (58.85%), total phenol (39.8 mg/100g), anthocyanin 17.05 mg/100 g). Further, on the basis of sensory evaluation, the standardized product had high overall acceptability along with higher score for colour, flavor etc. The FTIR analysis of prepared jam and fig pulp clearly revealed that there was no alteration in physicochemical properties of fig pulp after its processing. Hence, the results from the present investigation clearly revealed that development of jam from wild fig can also be one of the alternative for the utilization of this nutritional rich underutilized crop for commercial purposes.