Formulation of star fruit (Averrhoa carambola L.) powder unified digestive food products and their quality evaluation

Abstract

It's unfortunate that Averrhoa carambola, commonly known as star fruit, is considered an underutilized fruit in India due to its perishable nature and higher moisture content. This can indeed lead to significant food waste and missed economic opportunities for farmers and producers. However, there are several potential strategies that can be explored to reduce waste and promote the consumption of star fruit in India. Star fruit is one of the tropical fruit that has usual less consideration from the food industry. A large number of ripened star fruits gone wasted during the fruiting-season. Consequently, a study was conducted to develop food products, evaluate nutritive value and sensory characteristics from highly nutritious underutilized fruit. Star fruit powder were used in different ratio i.e. 10percent, 20percent, 30percent, 40percent and 50percent with other ingredients for the development of value added products. Several preliminary trials were conducted to standardize star fruit powder and finally therefore T4 (40% Star fruit powder incorporation) was found acceptable. Star fruit products (Laddu, Hingoli) products were compared with control and found that overall acceptability of star fruit was more than compared control. Vitamin C content was significantly higher in star fruit products compared to control.