Utilización de diversos edulcorantes en la elaboración de una conserva en base de tuna (opuntia ficus-indica)

Abstract

At the 22nd Entrepreneurship Fair of the ESPOCH held in Riobamba, it was observed that most of the attendees did not know much about the fruit known as tuna. This situation is developing at the national level because of the lack of food market derivatives of this raw material and the limited commercialization of the fruit. For this reason, the aim was to elaborate a new processing process based on the prickly pear. Three types of preserves were made, each one in a different covering liquid (white sugar, brown sugar, panela). Previous to the final analysis, homemade tests were carried out to define the standard recipe. Once the syrups were ready (for each 100 ml of water, 80 g of sugar were added) and when they were hot, the prickly pear was added to the sterilized glass jars and then the liquid sweeteners were added to them. These final samples were stored in cold storage for shelf life and sensory analysis over the course of days, applying a hedonic scale survey and a preference survey. An acid pH of less than five and a brix percentage of more than 20° were obtained. It was defined that in relation to molds, panela preserves have the longest shelf life and in relation to yeasts, white sugar preserves the longest. After performing the two sensory tests and observing the general results obtained, it was determined that the type of sweetener used did not condition the acceptability of a particular variety of prickly pear preserves, as long as the product is innocuous and maintains the characteristics of the base raw material.