Abstract
An experiment was conducted to study the comparative effect of citric acid and ascorbic acid as antioxidants and variations in concentration of sugar (20, 30 and 35 °brix) on over-all quality of apple bars. Potassium meta-bisulphite and pectin were added as preservatives and binding agent, respectively. Quality of apple bars was evaluated within 3 months of storage, at 15-day intervals, in consideration of physicochemical and sensory aspects. In the bar samples, decrease was observed in water activity (0.69-0.64), moisture content (17.3-15.0 %), non-reducing sugars (4.12-3.92 %), pH (3.64-3.43), and ascorbic acid (3.11-0.61 mg/100 g). Increasing trends were noted in reducing sugars (17.28-17.31 %), titratable acidity (1.24-1.47%) total solids (83.26-87.38 %) and total soluble solids (63.17-68.46 °Brix) within 30 days of storage. Also, the apple bars exhibited noticeable changes in color (8.50-6.73), texture (8.50- 6.58), taste (8.50-6.51) and overall acceptability (8.00-5.68) during 90 days of storage. The bars prepared with 35° Brix and 0.1% citric acid exhibited comparatively higher stability in terms of physicochemical and sensory traits
