Nutritional Evaluation of Quince Fruit of Baltistan Region and Development of Value-added Products.
The fruit boasts the body to fight free radicals and lower the danger of diseases as it contains vitamins A, C, and copper. It also possesses antiviral properties. Quince has a negligible amount
of fat, and having an ample amount of crude fiber is good for digestion and helps reduce cholesterol. The fruit has a cooling effect and provides energy to the brain and heart, so its regular use maintains proper health. Keeping in view its tremendous nutritional value, the study was done to analyze the fruit for its nutritional composition and develop value-added products such as fruit nectar and jam.
Quince fruit nectar contained a total titrate able acidity of 0.7 and jam 0.81. Reducing sugars and total sugar content of developed products nectar and jam recorded were 21.3, 65.2 and 28.2, 68.5 respectively. The developed products, nectar and jam, have recorded total ash contents of 2.9 and 2.4%, respectively. It is a good indicator for a measure of the total amount of mineral content.
It is concluded that quince fruit is a highly nutritious underutilized fruit of Gilgit-Baltistan that can be used as a nutritious therapeutic fruit due to its high vitamin C content as compared to developed
value-added products, and thus it can be used for table purposes. The developed value-added products were well-accepted as compared to the fresh quince fruit because it has an astringent and
bitter odor. Both the developed products, nectar and jam, were liked very much and got the highest score.
Adv Food Technol Nutr Sci Open J. 2023; 9(1): 1-5. doi: 10.17140/AFTNSOJ-9-178