Nutritional probing and storage stability of papaya jam supplemented with date pit powder
Shafaq Anwar, Anam Saleem, Ayesha Razzaq, Muhammad Adnan Nasir, Abrar Hussain, Muhammad Rizwan Tariq, Shinawar Waseem Ali, Azeem Intisar, Waseem Safdar, Zujaja Umer, Zunaira Basharat, Umair Ali, Huzaifa Mehmood, Shahid Masood
Abstract
Jam Quality is a factor robustly influenced by storage conditions. The current research aimed to develop papaya jam with improved nutritional attributes, rheological profile, and shelf-life utilizing date pit powder as a functional ingredient. The effect of date pit powder on the formulated product's physicochemical, microbial, and organoleptic properties was analyzed. Results revealed that overall mineral profile (0.35–1.11%), crude fiber (0.56–2.01%), pH (3.51–3.70%), and antioxidant properties (22.97–30.67%) were significantly increased while water activity reduced (0.77–0.73). Moreover, date pit powder improved the color scores like a*(10.10–10.67), b* (8.13–8.78), L* (25.56–28.09), and textural attributes (Cohesiveness: 0.83–0.90; Firmness: 6.82–6.93) of functional papaya jam. Microbial count reduced from 3.60 × 10 5 -3.06 × 10 5 cfu/ml by adding date pit powder and staying within the acceptable limit (4.13 × 10 5 -3.60 × 10 5 cfu/ml) during 2-month storage at refrigeration. Organoleptic evaluation depicted that samples treated with date pit powder scored better than the control, and a sample with 75% pectin replacement was considered best.