Abstract

LOVERA, Nancy N; RAMALLO, Laura  and  SALVADORI, Viviana O. Effect of cooking and fruit ripening of papaya (Carica papaya L.) on quality of papaya in syrup. Rev. cienc. tecnol. [online]. 2013, n.20, pp.44-51. ISSN 1851-7587.

In this study the effect of fruit ripeness on the calcium retention and the firmness of papaya in syrup were investigated. The fruits in syrup were developed from pretreated papaya samples. The pretreatment consisted in an impregnation stage using isotonic solutions of calcium lactate, and the subsequent cooking of the samples in sucrose syrup. In addition, green fruit without pretreatment was processed as a control. It was cooked in syrup with addition of 1.5% of calcium lactate and without calcium. Calcium content, color and firmness were measured in fresh fruit, pre-treated and processed samples.. Experimental results showed that during the pretreatment, green and ripe fruits increased their calcium content in 84.1 and 103.2 mg Ca/100g fresh fruit, respectively. During cooking, green and ripe fruits retained 52.8% and 65.6%, respectively, of the calcium content previously gained. Processed green fruits with calcium in syrup gained 78.6 mg Ca/100g fresh fruit, while those processed without mineral addition maintained the initial values of calcium content. The pretreatment with calcium increased the firmness of the fresh fruit, for both green and mature samples. After cooking, the ripe fruit firmness increased, as opposed to that of the green fruit, which decreased notoriously.

Keywords : Calcium; Texture; Pretreatment; Impregnation; Papaya in syrup.

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