Background:
Candies available in market are artificially coloured using artificial/synthetic dyes which are not approved by FSSAI. These colourants are associated with chronic health effects including hyperactivity in children, kidney damage and allergies. Fruit candy, an IMF (Intermediate Moisture Food), is consumed by all age groups therefore, immediate attention is required to make them safe with incorporation of natural biocolourants. Consumers and processors are also keen for convenient food products with no added synthetic preservatives as well as low cost functional product. Technology Details:
Use of beetroot colorants can replace synthetic colour and enhance antioxidant potential of papaya candy. Additionally, the developed product has no synthetic preservative. Product can be used in both the ways (1) a value added ready-to-eat functional product and (2) a functional food ingredient. The developed papaya candy (Fig 1) is one of the merely processed products from raw papaya and beetroots available in the market. Both the crops are low value crops and suffering problem of glut. This product also addresses the sensory limitation such as fibrous nature, hard texture and earthy flavor of beetroots.