Background/Aims: Manufacture of a new nutritious product from locally produced green kiwifruit and blackcurrant purée needs careful consideration of the optimum mix of ingredients and optimum processing conditions to produce a nutritious and stable fruit leather.
Methods: Response surface methodology (RSM) efficiently identifies, from a small number of experiments, a mix of purées with added sugar and pectin. RSM methods were then used to optimise the combination of drying time and temperature to give maximum responses for colour retention, ascorbic acid content and suitable texture.
Results: The optimum combination of the ingredients was 80.98% green kiwifruit, 9% blackcurrant purée with 10% sucrose and 0.02% added pectin. 16 hours drying at 65.4°C produced a tasty product.
Conclusions: The final product contained 79% soluble carbohydrates, 4% protein, 7.5% fibre and excellent L*a*b* colour. Moisture and pH content suggested that the product would be stable in storage.
Funding Source: Lincoln University Post Graduate Research Fund