Value Addition in Dragon fruit and Evaluation of the Products (Hylocereus costaricensis)

Author: Archana R., C. Indu Rani, P. Geetha, G. Amuthaselvi, I. Muthuvel and R. Neelavathi

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Abstract

Dragon fruit is an exotic fruit, rich in nutritional value and bioactive compounds. The fruits are low in calories and high in antioxidant and vitamin C. Processed products of dragon fruit offer value by diversifying food choices, reducing waste, and promoting economic growth while retaining nutritional benefits. The present experiment entitled “Value addition in dragon fruit and evaluation of the products (Hylocereus costaricensis)” was conducted during the year 2022-2023 in Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore. The study was about preparation of various value-added products such as jam, jelly, jujube, squash, RTS, cookies and ice-cream by using dragon fruit pulp and powder. After preparation, the value-added products were evaluated for various physico-chemical parameters such as TSS, pH, acidity, vitamin C, total sugars, reducing sugars and betalain compounds. On the basis of sensory evaluation, it was concluded that dragon fruit jam was found to be the best of all products as it recorded the higher sensory score of 8.6 in terms of overall acceptability.

Keywords

Dragon fruit, value added products, physico-chemical parameters, colour values, organoleptic evaluation

Conclusion

Dragon fruit is rich in nutritional and medicinal properties, brings numerous benefits to human health. All the parts of the dragon fruit namely, pulp, peel, flowers and stem contain bioactive compounds such as betalains, flavonoids, tannins, alkaloids beneficial in biological activities in humans such as antioxidant, antimicrobial and anticancer properties. In this study, jam, jelly, jujube, squash, RTS, cookies and ice- cream were prepared using dragon fruit pulp and powder. On the basis of the result, dragon fruit jam scored higher sensory rating and also recorded high betalains (12.1 mg/100g), acidity (0.48%), ascorbic acid (2.64mg/100g), total sugars (68.8%) and reducing sugars (29.70%) among all the products.

References

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How to cite this article

Archana R., C. Indu Rani, P. Geetha, G. Amuthaselvi, I. Muthuvel and R. Neelavathi (2023). Value Addition in Dragon fruit and Evaluation of the Products (Hylocereus costaricensis) . Biological Forum – An International Journal, 15(8a): 180-186.