Development of crispy jelly product from fresh coconut syrup

Abstract

Fresh coconut syrup is a product from coconut spadix which has unique sweet taste and odor. Due to its short storage life, it is usually processed into palm sugar. Development of new product from fresh coconut syrup would add more value by using it to produce crispy jelly. A suitable formula selected as a basic formula used 42.11 percent of refined sugar, 56.14 percent of water, and 1.75 percent of jelly powder. The basic formula was adjusted by calculating amount of water and soluble solids. Then, a study was conducted to determine suitable amount of refined sugar, heating period, and drying temperature. It was found that a higher ratio of refined sugar and heating period led to increased concentration level of the mixture. As a result, the crispy jelly had higher amount of sugar chips on the jelly's surface and higher level of hardness. The highest score given by testers was for crispy jelly which used a ratio of fresh coconut syrup and refined sugar at 1:0.6 and 1:0.8 heating period of 5 minutes. Drying crispy jelly at higher temperature resulted in decreased drying period and higher degree of hardness. Drying at 70 degree Celcius produced crispy jelly with good quality which received the highest likeness score from testers. A study that kept crispy jelly in plastic box for at least 8 weeks showed that the tested condition could effectively maintain good quality of the crispy jelly.