“To Study on Preservation of Ice Apple with Blanching or Without Blanching”

Ice apple is a less known tropical fruit of the palmyra palm tree. It is widely available in the hot sizzling summer season. It is scientifically known as Borassus Flabellifer and belongs to the family Aceraceae. The Palmyra tree generally grows in tropical countries such as India, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Malaysia, Myanmar and Indonesia. the pulp of mature ice apple is eaten directly from the wiry fibre of peeled fruits. The fleshy ice apples are packed with translucent, juicy liquid and may have exceptional cooling properties. Ice apple is a low- calorie fruit providing 43 calories/100 grams 11 grams of carbohydrates and rich in calcium and phytonutrients. It also contains a minimal amount of fibre, protein, vitamin –C, A, E, K, B7and iron. Ice apple is a seasonal fruit. to make availability of ice apple it is made into preserves with the help of different types of blanching techniques like – salt solution blanching, hot water blanching, sugar solution blanching and without blanching. Blanching is followed by solar drying to obtain preserves. In these different techniques of blanching, the desired preserves are obtained in the sugar solution blanching. The nutritive value of sugar solution blanched ice apple preserves is carbohydrates and total sugars are 7grams and 15.75 grams respectively fat and protein content are 0grams. The moisture content is 30%, caloric value is 30.1K. Cal/gm.