Process Development and Quality Evaluation of Fruit Leather Enriched with Iron and Vitamin C

Fruit leather, a preserved dehydrated confectionary product, can be conveniently value added towards the ever existing iron deficiency anemia and increasing prevalence of oxidative stress related diseases. The objectives of the study was to process fruit leather with the fruits rich in iron and vitamin C with and without preservatives and evaluate physiochemical and sensory quality of fruit leathers. Fruit leathers were prepared out of the pulp of guava mixed with each of pomegranate, dates and watermelon along with sugar and pectin, totally three types of mixture of pulp in two variations with and without citric acid. The mixture of fruit pulp was smeared in to thin layers and dried at 60°C for 5 to 6 hours. Sensory evaluation was carried out for the storage life and the fruit leather with best acceptability was analysed for physiochemical and microbial analysis. Results showed that the sensory quality of fruit leathers with the significant amount of iron and vitamin C levels. Microbial analysis showed the absence of coliforms and presence of bacterial count was 20 cfu/gm, within the microbial limits of the product. FESEM showed the significant structural difference among types of fruit leathers along with the presence of Mg, K and Ca. EDAX and FTIR revealed the presence of functional components belonging to fruits added in fruit leathers. Hence fruit leathers with guava pulp mixed with pomegranate, dates and watermelon showed the significant amount of iron and vitamin C with the presence of antioxidative compounds.