ABSTRACT

In certain food processing operations, raw materials contain more water than is to be attained in the final product. This necessitates the removal of extra water to achieve the required product quality and texture, such as that in a jam-making process. Fresh fruits majorly used for jam preparation such as mango and strawberry, have a high moisture content of 85% (Mercer, 2012) and 89%–91% (Shi et al., 2008), respectively. During the jam-making process, excess water is removed by boiling the fruit pulp with sugar syrup and pectin until a minimum total soluble solid (TSS) content of 65% is reached in the final viscous product. This process of removing excess water is known as concentration. In the food industry, the concentration of liquid products is predominantly achieved by evaporation.