Physicochemical, Rheological and Sensory Attributes of Honey Sweetened Jam Produced from Blends of Carrot and Cucumber

This study evaluate the physicochemical properties, rheological characteristics, and consumer acceptability of Jam produced from blend of carrot (CT) and cucumber (CB),sweetened with honey at varying proportions : C10 (100% CT), C91 (90% CT, 10% CB) , C82 ( 80%CT, 20% CB), C73(70% CT, 30%CB), C64 (60%CT, 40%CB), C55 (50%CT, 50%CB, C46 (40% CT, 60% CB), C37: 30%CT, 70% CB, C28 (20%CT, 80% CB) C19 (10%CT, 90%CB) and ,C01 (100 CB), respectively. The proximate composition, physicochemical properties and rheological characteristics were evaluated using standards methods and sensory evaluation as well conducted. There were significant differences (p<0.05) between the values obtained for moisture, protein, ash, fiber, fat and carbohydrate contents. These ranged from 52.67-72%, 1.32-1.94%, 0.28-2.32%, 0.14-1.05%, 0.11-0.93%, 24.89-44.41%, respectively. Also, significant differences (p<0.05) existed between values obtained for vitamin C, total sugar, Total titrable acidity, Brix° and pH, respectively. Application of power law model revealed a pseudo-plastic behavior for all the Jams samples with flow index of n<1. Inference drawn from the panelist scores revealed that scores for sensory parameters were not significantly different (p>0.05). There was higher average scored values for all the parameters rated by panelist for jams produced from 100% carrot. The study showed that jams (Carrot-cucumber jam sweetened with honey) is a good source of energy. The level of fat and total sugar content of these fruit jams indicated the suitability for children, elderly, diabetic patient and obese. Practical application The focus of this work, carrot-cucumber jam sweetened with honey is with the focus of attending to the inability of accessing the nutritional and health beneficial components as a result of postharvest losses associated with cucumber and carrots widely grown in the country. This is easily solved by processing into products (jam) that can easily be stored and yield it benefits whenever to variety of consumers: children, obese, elderly and diabetic patients