Utilization of jackfruit seed flour (Artocarpus heterophyllus L.) as a thickening agent in tomato sauce production

Starch-based thickening agents are widely used in the food industry, and corn flour (CF) is the most prominent intomato sauce manufacturing. Jackfruit seeds which are highly abundant but underutilized source of flour, have very limited industrial applications. Jackfruit seed flour (JSF) which can be acquired from jackfruit seeds is a good option to meet different industrial applications. Hence, this study aims to investigate the thickening capacity of JSF in tomato sauce production. As functional properties of flour change with their drying techniques, two drying techniques: hot-air-drying (HAD-JSF) and freeze-drying (FD-JSF) were tried, and out of them, HADJSF was used for the further studies based on its functional properties and potential to be used in commercial level.According to the proximate analysis, ash, fat, crude protein, and crude fiber were significantly higher while moisture and total carbohydrate content were significantly lower in HADJSF than CF (p < 0.05). HAD-JSF incorporated tomato sauce showed incredible thickening properties with increased viscosity (1083 cP) with lower syneresis than CF-incorporated tomato sauce (1004 cP). During the 8 weeks of storage period,total soluble solids and titratable acidity of JSF- incorporated tomato sauce was significantly consistent (p > 0.05) while the pH and the water activity significantly increased (p < 0.05). The microbial counts were below the standard limits. JSF incorporated tomato sauce received the highest consumer acceptance on the sensory evaluations. This study proclaims the potential of JSF as a successful thickening agent in tomato sauce.