Diseño de un proceso para la obtención de un caramelo dietético a partir de la Jícama (Smallanthus sonchifolia).

Abstract

A process for the production of dietary candy from Jicama (Smallanthus sonchifolia) was designed. It was carried out at the National Institute of Agricultural Research (INIAP), so that the elaboration of dietary candy is directed to people with diabetes or who do not like calorie intake due to overweight problems. Studies on Jicama have determined that they have great nutritional contributions and the main characteristic is found in their sugars, where the high content of fructooligosaccharides (FOS) in their juice stands out; (8 months), washing, extraction of the juice, which was chemically treated to avoid enzymatic browning, was then subjected to cooking for its concentration, eliminating the Content of water by evaporation, until obtaining a syrup with high content of sweetness, several tests were carried out varied cooking time, temperature and the ºBrix, once selected the best formulation was carried out the analysis of the caloric contribution of the dietary candy as well as its yield , Degrees Brix, color, pH, acidity. During the preliminary tests it was possible to determine the obtaining of the dietary caramel, which reached 39.5 g non-caloric producing FOS, generating 79 cal / g of caramel, as the weight of the caramel is 4 grams making a total of 316 calories. The steps necessary for the process of making the dietary candy are: storage (cold room), washing, peeling, chemical treatment, juice extraction, concentrator, molding, molding and packaging. Due to the great demand that the candies have at national and international level, it is proposed to the Ecuadorian Confectionery Industry, the elaboration of these candies with natural non-caloric sugars to be consumed by people with diabetes, being sweet but with the advantage that it does not produce calories.