H – harvesting, Brine concentration (B), lowest score.

The sensory properties of a product, such as color, taste, flavor, and aroma, are crucial in determining its quality and directly influence consumer satisfaction and acceptance. The level of consumer acceptance is essential when developing new food products, as purchasing decisions are often guided by the sensory characteristics of the product. 

Jackfruit in its tender stage i.e. jack harvested at 60 DAFS (Days After Fruit Set) is usually consumed as vegetable. However, various factors hinder its year-round availability, including its seasonal nature, geographically restricted growth due to climatic conditions, high perishability, and challenges associated with storage and transportation due to limited post-harvest technologies (Poornima et al., 2022).

To prevent wastage, surplus jackfruit should be processed and preserved using appropriate techniques that extend its shelf life while maintaining nutrition. (Jan et al., 2012).

To fulfill these goals, a retort pouch packaging method with thermal processing is an excellent alternative to metal cans. It is a flexible, laminated container that can endure thermal processing temperatures and offers the benefits of both metal cans and plastic packages. The key benefits of retort pouch packaging include easy bulk packing, lower transportation and material costs, rapid heat penetration, easy disposal without polluting the environment, and heat sealing. Furthermore, it has no effect on odor, flavor, texture, color, or food value. (Donald and Ricardo 2007). Tender jack harvested at 60 DAFS combined with appropriate brine in retort packaging is a better option to tin cans, and tender jack can also be provided during the off season.

The experiment was conducted at the Department of Post-Harvest Technology, College of Horticulture, Mudigere, from January 2023 to July 2024. The experiment was conducted in factorial completely randomized design with two factors Viz., Harvesting stages at two levels H1- 45 DAFS (Days After Fruit Set) and H2- 60 DAFS other factor is brine concentration at five different concentrations viz., B1- 2 percent, B2- 3 percent, B3- 4 percent, B4- 5 percent and B5- 6 percent and their interaction (HxB) with 3 replications. Sensory evaluation of retort packed tender jack with respect to appearance, texture, color and overall acceptability which was adjudged on a 5- point hedonic scale (Ranganna, 1986) by a panel of 20 untrained judges, mean score was presented.

The scores recorded with respect to appearance, texture, color and overall acceptibility are represented in Table 1.

Table 1: Effect of harvesting stage and brine concentration on sensory parameters of retort packed tender jack (5 hedonic scale).

Effect of harvesting stages and brine concentrations on texture score of retort packed Tender Jack. Table 1 shows that texture scores changed significantly depending on harvesting stage. The highest texture score (4.45) was recorded in H2 (60 DAFS). The H1 had a minimum texture score of 4.34 (45 DAFS). There was significant fluctuation between brine contents. The texture score was much higher (4.84) in B3 (4%), followed by B2 (3%) brine concentration (4.82). The lowest score (4.22) was earned in B1 (2%). In terms of interactions, the H2B3 (60 DAFS with 4% brine concentration) combination had the highest texture score (4.65), followed by H2B2 (4.58), while the lowest texture score (3.23) was reported in H2B1 (60 DAFS with 2% brine concentration). Tender jack has a relatively delicate cell structure, low brine concentration might not create enough osmotic pressure to effectively draw out excess water or strengthen the cell walls, leading to softer texture. Similar results were found by Kaur et al. (2023).

Effect of harvesting stages and brine concentrations on color score of retort packed tender jack. Colors vary greatly between harvest phases. The highest color score (4.83) was recorded in H2 (60 DAFS). The lowest color score (4.77) was registered in the H1 (45 DAFS). The hue of tender jack varied significantly between brine concentrations. The color score was much higher (4.78) in B3 (4%), followed by B4 (5%) brine concentration (4.74). The lowest color score (4.48) was observed in B5 (6%) brine concentration. In the interactions, the maximum color (4.88) was recorded in the H2B3 (60 DAFS with 4% brine concentration) combination, followed by H2B4 (4.85), while the least color score (3.56) was obtained in H1B5 (45 DAFS with 6% brine concentration). The exposer of fruits during processing leads to oxidization of phenols and reduces the lightness of the fresh, this may lead to decreasing in the color as compared to fresh fruits. The results also coincide with Babu and Sudheer (2019). 

Effect of harvesting stages and brine concentrations on overall acceptability score of retort packed tender jack. Significant difference was seen with respect to overall acceptability in harvesting stages, H2 (60 DAFS) had the highest overall acceptability score (4.16), whereas H1 (60 DAFS) had the lowest (3.84). Significant variation was seen across brine concentrations. The highest concentration (4.39) was found in B3 (4%), followed by B2 (3%) brine (4.23). The lowest overall acceptability score (3.85) was found for B1 (2%) brine concentration. Among the interactions, the H2B3 (60 DAFS with 4% brine concentration) combination had the highest overall acceptability score (4.58), followed by H2B2 and H2B4 (4.45 and 4.32, respectively), and the H1B1 (45 DAFS with 2% brine concentration) combination had the lowest overall acceptability score (3.23), followed by H1B5 (45 DAFS with 2%), which had an overall acceptability score of 3.48.This may be due to differ in the scoring for appearance, texture and color of retort packed tender jack (Sagar and Kumar 2010).

Further studies are required to evaluate soft flesh and hard flesh of Jack cultivars for retort packaging

R. Suhana, Y. Kantharaj, B.S. Shivakumar, Devaraju and H.S. Chaitanya (2024). Impact of Harvesting Stages and Brine Concentration on Sensory Qualities of Retort Packed  Tender Jack (Artocarpus heterophyllus L.). Biological Forum – An International Journal, 16(10): 127-129.