For the purpose of obtaining the fundamental data of the appropriate cooking and processing of pectin, the effects of pH and salts on the texture of low-methoxyl pectin jelly were examined.
The standard mixture ratio of low-methoxyl pectin jelly is as follows : 1% of commercial low-methoxyl pectin, 20% of sucrose and calcium chloride equivalent to 25mg per one gram of pectin as calcium.
The characteristic value of the texture from the pH2 to 6.5 was measured. It has been said that the gel of low-methoxyl pectin jelly is formed by cross-linkage of polyvalent cations, however, it was not so sensitive to the pH in comparison with high methoxyl pectin jelly.
The texture and preference were examined by use of calcium chloride, calcium phosphate and milk as calcium salts, and magnesium chloride and magnesium sulfate as magnesium salts.
The jelly by use of calcium salts showed generally higher characteristic value of the texture than that by use of magnesium salts. The hardness of jelly increased in proportion to the increase of calcium concentration from 25mg to 50mg per one gram of pectin, and however, it significantly decreased in the higher concentration of calcium salts than the above.
In the case of using magnesium salts in the concentration of 150mg per one gram of pectin, the hardness curve shows peak.
It is estimated that the above result is caused by the existence of the most suitable amounts of polyvalent cations for the cross-linkage among pectin molecules and that the gel formation is inhibited by the existence of the more amounts of polyvalent cations.
The sensory evaluation by ranking test is conducted on the four kinds of low-methoxyl pectin jelly of different salts as coagulants.
As the result, the jelly by use of milk is significantly preferred.
The jelly by use of magnesium salts is not preferred. The sensory evaluation by seven point-test of both side scale showed the high correlation to the overall acceptable evaluation in order of taste, adhesiveness, cohesiveness, elasticity and softness in the preference parameters.
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