ABSTRACT

The potential of some wild growing indigenous fruits such as Malay rose apple (Syzygium malaccense) has remained largely untapped. Most tropical fruits can be processed and preserved in small scale operations using simple techniques. This study was carried out investigate the possibility of producing juice and jam from Malay rose apple and to evaluate the nutritional, anti-oxidant, physico-chemical and organoleptic properties of the product. Malay rose apples were brought from Ndoro market, Abia State. The fruits were purchased from different vendors and pooled to obtain the sample for the study. The juice and jam were prepared using standard methods. The proximate, mineral and vitamin content of the samples were determined using standard AOAC methods. Sensory evaluation of the products was carried out using a 9-point hedionic scale. All tests were carried out in duplicates and means and standard deviation obtained from the chemical analysis were calculated. Malay rose apple juice with ginger had the highest crude protein (1.06%), crude fat (0.02%) and crude ash (0.05%) while Malay rose apple juice without ginger had the highest carbohydrate (9.46%) value. Malay rose apple jam with ginger had the highest crude protein value (1.29%), crude fat (0.15%) and crude ash (0.22%) while Malay rose apple jam without ginger had the highest carbohydrate (17.57%) value. The malay rose apple juice with ginger had the highest β-carotene (2815mcg/100g) value and vitamin E (1.31mg/100g) value while the juice without ginger had the highest vitamin C (19.54mg/100g) value. The jam with ginger had the highest vitamin E (1.24mg/100g) value while the jam without ginger had the highest β-carotene (5740mcg/100g) value and vitamin C (9.74mg/100g). All the minerals tested in the juice with ginger had higher values than the juice without ginger except for Iron. Values of the mineral composition of the jam with ginger were higher than the values for jam without ginger except for Phosphorus and Zinc. The juice without ginger had the highest DPPH inhibition level (45.93%) while the jam with ginger had the highest DPPH inhibition level (41.67%). Based on the nutrient profile of the Malay rose apple products, it appears to be good alternative for other commercial jams and can make substantial contribution to provitamin A, vitamin C and carbohydrate intake.