Sensory influence of chemical additives in peeled cactus pears (Opuntia ficusindica (L.) Miller) in syrup conserved by combined methods.

Abstract

The preservation through combined methods has shown to be an effective technique for the elaboration of fruits in syrup and it is generally used with priority in regions far away from urban cities where there is neither such state-of-the-art technology nor enough energy. The main objective of the present work was to utilise this technology to develop peeled cactus pear in syrup canned in glass jars (440 mL) with twist-off caps, selecting those formulations that organoleptically were the best out of a population of 12, in which water activity (0,96 and 0,975), concentrations of sodium bisulphite (0, 50 and 100 ppm), phosphoric acid (50% v/v) and in mixture with citric acid (50% v/v) were modified and the concentrations of the ascorbic acid (500 ppm), calcium chloride (120 ppm) and potassium sorbate (1000 ppm) were maintained constant. The main conclusion was that conserved peeled cactus pears in syrup can be elaborated through combined methods reaching a total “Acceptable” qualification according to the organoleptical featuring and that the best alternative of formulation is the one without sodium bisulphite addition, by using a mixture of phosphoric and citric acids (50% v/v) and with Aw = 0,96, maintaining constant the remainder of the chemical additives. This formulation was characterised by applying chemical, physical, and microbiological methods, being observed that as well as in other preserves of fruits in syrup, they constitute sources of carbohydrates, fibbers, mineral (value of ashes) and vitamin C.