STRAWBERRY
FLAVOURED JAM
Introduction
Strawberry flavoured jam can be made from ash gourd with the addition of artificial strawberry
flavouring and red food colouring. It should not be confused with strawberry jam which is made
from real strawberries.
Ash gourd is a cheap fruit which can be stored for
up to a year without deterioration. It is fairly
tasteless and so can be used as the base for
several different products. Flavourings and food
colourings are added to give a range of products.
The yield of usable fruit material from the whole
fruit is approximately 75%. Ash gourd has
enough natural pectin present to make a good jam
without the addition of artificial pectin. It is
extremely important that the label on the jar
states that this product is strawberry flavoured
rather than strawberry jam. See the technical
brief on labelling for more information on the
legalities of labelling foods.
This technical brief should be read together with
the general brief on jam and jelly making which
contains detailed information on quality
assurance, recipes and equipment suppliers.
Figure 1: Woman showing Ash Gourd,
Practical Action Bangladesh
Recipe
Fruit pulp
Sugar
Citric acid
Strawberry flavouring
Red food-grade colouring
44%
55% (starting recipe before boiling)
0.53%
0.12%
0.032%
Quality assurance
The main areas of quality control that are needed to produce uniformly high quality products are
as follows: fruit selection and preparation, accurate weighing and mixing of ingredients, hygienic
preparation of fruits, correct acidity, moisture content and final total soluble solids content.
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