Diseño de un proceso industrial para la elaboración de mermelada a partir de grosella agria (Phyllanthus Acidus)” para el canton Eloy Alfaro

Abstract

The objective of this study is the design of an industrial process to produce jam from sour currant (Phyllanthus acidus) in the Eloy Alfaro canton. To produce the jam, the process began from the reception and selection of raw materials, pre-cooking, sieving, conditioning the pulp, standardizing, cooking, packaging, sealing, cooling, storing, and labelling. The raw material was characterized in SAQMIC, which is a certified laboratory, parameters of pH, acidity and soluble solids were included with values of 2.51, 3.30 and 4.80 respectively, this process was used to determine the appropriate maturity of the fruit. To obtain a good pulping of the raw material, the pre-cooking temperature was established and to concentrate the mixture the temperature inside the evaporator was controlled, these were the most important variables of the process. Laboratory tests were developed with three types of product formulations, where consumer acceptance was established. With the data obtained, the necessary calculations were made to design the process, the result indicated that to generate 64.51 kg of daily jam, 70 kg of acid gooseberries are needed. To validate the final product, the quality of the product was determined based on the NTE INEN 2825 standard: this standard for Jams, Jellies and Marmalades, specifies the number of soluble solids (65 ° Brix), as nutritional information of fibre, protein and total sugars, microbiological analyses were carried out to determine; the presence of total aerobes, aerobic counts, moulds, and yeasts that give adequate values for human consumption without causing damage. The study concludes that the sour currant jam presents the highest quality standards, in addition to this, it also complies with the standards that regulate the product, thus being suitable for human consumption. It is recommended that currant residues be used as much as possible within the process for future projects focused on the use of organic waste.