TECHNICAL ASSESSMENT ON VIABILITY OF INTEGRATED FRUITS PROCESSING IN ETHIOPIA

The feasibility study of small scale processing of pineapple jam, mango jam and dried pineapple was studied. The methodology used for the feasibility study incorporates the three environments proposed by Lecup and Nicholson (2000) namely, market, technical (scientific and technological environment) and financial and economic environments.
Pineapple cultivars (Ananas Comosus L,) Smooth cayenne and Red spanish at full ripening stage were collected from Teso in Sidama Zone. Mango samples were collected from Shebedino Woreda in Sidama Zone. Physico-chemical characteristics (pH, titerable acidity and soluble solid content) of the pulp, product yield (pulp and jam yield) and organoleptic attributes (color, aroma, flavor, degree of spreadability and acceptability) of the jam formulated from the crops were evaluated to assess the suitability of the local mango and pineapple varieties for jam production and consumer acceptability.
It was observed that the pulp extracted from Smooth cayenne cultivar contain higher total soluble solids (16.23° Brix) and lower titrable acidity (0.7%) compared to the Red spanish cultivar. The total soluble solid and titerable acidity of the pulp from the local mango was 15.5° Brix and 0.36% respectively. The pH values of the pulp from both crops were found to be higher than 3.6 which is the maximum limit for formation of optimum gel for High Methoxy Pectin. The pulp yield (60%) and jam yield (95.5%) were higher for Smooth cayenne cultivar as compared to the Red spanish.