Effect of heat and chemical preservatives on the overall quality of Muskmelon cubes preserved in sucrose solution

This research was conducted to examine sucrose solution effect with selected food chemical preservatives potassium metabisulfite (PMS) and potassium sorbate (PS) on overall quality of the muskmelon cubes in sealed plastic jars and kept at ambient temperature.The importance of this study was to inhance the storage life of muskmelon fruit because alot of muskmelon goes surplus during the peak season. These treatments were analyzed physico-chemically (pH, titratable acidity, ascorbic acid, TSS, reducing sugar and non-reducing sugar) and organoleptically (texture, color, flavor and overall acceptability) at 15 days of interval for 90 days. Storage results showed that decreased was found in pH (6.10 to 5.43), ascorbic acid (35.18 to 18.39 mg/100g) and nonreducing sugar (14.04 to 11.95%). Similarly decrease in score rate was found for overall acceptability (8.20 to 7.60). An increase was found in muskmelon cubes for titratable acidity (0.08 to 0.14 %), TSS (18.40 to 22.54o Brix) and reducing sugar (4.23 to 5.84%) during three months of storage. Statistical results revealed that treatment T5 was found the best for overall quality (texture, color, flavor and nutritive stability) of muskmelon cubes preserved in sucrose solution and treated with chemical food preservatives followed by T2, T7, T4, T6 and T3 respectively for all aspects.