Increase the potentiality of bitter melon (Momordica charantia) into processed food products as an effort to diversify

Abstract

Riyadi NH, Ishartani D, Purbasari R. 2015. Increase the potentiality of bitter melon (Momordica charantia) into processed food products as an effort to diversify. Pros Sem Nas Masy Biodiv Indon 1: 1167-1172. Bitter melon is a bitter fruit plant, grown in the tropical climatic condition, easily cultivated, and not depends on the season. It has a huge commercial potential as it carries a lot of fruit health benefits. However, its bitterness is less desirable. One of the efforts to improve the public interest is to make it sweeter. However, the length of time between production and consumption causes the deterioration of product quality. Therefore, it is necessary to estimate the shelf life of candy melon with reasonable time to know their consumption. The aims of this research were to determine the changes of vitamin C, the total number of microbes (TNM), and the reduction of sensory quality of wet candy melon during the storage. Besides, based on the deterioration of sensory quality, ASLT method and Arrhenius model were used to predict the shelf life of candy melon. The results showed that the sensory quality and levels of vitamin C are decreased and the TPC is increased during storage. Furthermore, the shelf life (days) of candy melon based on different parameters such as appearance, aroma, flavor, texture and overall were 103, 316, 164, 85, and 118, respectively. The estimation days applied on the shortest shelf life based on texture parameter were 85 days.