Impact of Beetroot Pulp on Physico-Chemical and Sensory Properties of Apple-Based Spread

Spread is a nutritious and flavourful alternative to the jams and butters. The current study's goal was to create a functional spread based on apples by adding beetroot pulp and evaluating its physico-chemical, microbial and sensory properties under ambient storage conditions. The control spread was made exclusively of apple pulp. The remaining five functional spread samples comprised of apple pulp and beetroot pulp in the proportions of 90:10, 80:20, 70:30, 60:40 and 50:50, respectively. The spread samples were stored in glass jar and evaluated at 0, 2, 4 and 6 months of storage. The spread's moisture content (24.97-19.79%) was reduced while TSS (60.00-63.44ºBrix), titratable acidity (0.500-0.648%), reducing sugars (24.30-28.15%) and total sugars (55.76-58.78%) were increased with the increase in storage duration. The microbial count remained below the permissible limit for the entire six months of storage. Colour, texture, taste and mouthfeel ratings showed that the spread with 60% apple pulp and 40% beetroot pulp performed better than the other blends of apple-beetroot spread.