FST 538

LABORATORY REPORT

EXPERIMENT 1- DETERMINATION OF JELLY GRADE OF

PECTIN BY MAKING TEST JELLIES

NAME NURUL AMIRAH WAJIHAH BINTI SAHAMIN

STUDENT’S ID 2017283588

GROUP AINI ZULAIKHA BINTI AHMAD ZAIDI

MEMBER’S
NURHUSNA NABILAH BINTI CHE RUSSLEE
NAME
NUR SHAHIRAH ERINA BINTI RUSDI

NURUL FAIQAH BINTI MOHD NOOR

SITI NADHIRAH BINTI REDZUAN

GROUP AS2465Q

LECTURER DR. AIMI SARAH BINTI ZAINAL ABIDIN

DATE OF EXP. 17 SEPTEMBER 2019

INTRODUCTION

Pectin is a type of structural fiber found in the primary cell wall and intracellular layer of
plant cells mainly in fruit such as apples, oranges and lemon. The grade of pectin is obtained
from the ratio of sugar to pectin in a jelly of standard strength. Jelly grade of pectin is the number
of grams of sugar, which 1 grams of pectin requires to make a jelly of 65° Brix with a pH 3.00 ±
0.05 and other optimum conditions. Pectin which has been thoroughly mixed with 10 times its
weight of sugar will readily go into solution in hot water, forming a nearly clear solution. Most
commercial pectin contains dextrose to facilitate dispersion in solution (Smith, 2003). The pectin
of commerce is characterized by a high content of glucuronic acid, and this has become part of
the legal definition for pectin used as food additives or for pharmaceutical purposes. Typical
requirement are for a minimum of 65% of glucuronic acid on the ash and moisture-free
substances. Adding pectin when making jam or jelly can shortens or eliminates the cooking time,
resulting in a fresher fruit flavour.

OBJECTIVES

1. Understand the role of pectin

2. Determine the jelly grade of pectin to produce a good quality jelly product

MATERIALS

Hot plate Measuring cylinder, 250ml

Analytical balance Spoon

Top loading balance Glass rod

pH meter Plastic cup

Thermometer Beaker

Hand-held refractometer Rubber band

 Jelly grade Weight of pectin (gram)

100 2.500

110 2.275

120 2.085

130 1.925

140 1.785

150 1.665

160 1.560

170 1.470

180 1.390

190 1.315

200 1.250

Fine sugar 250g

Citric acid solution 50g made up to 100ml

Sodium citrate solution 25g made up to 100ml

METHODS

The empty beaker was weighed with spoon or glass rod, W1. 160ml of water was added
and followed by 2ml citric acid solution and 0.5ml sodium citrate solution. The beaker was
heated using hot plate at about 160℃ to 170℃. 250g of sugar and 1.785g of pectin was weighed.
From the weighed sugar, 17.85g of sugar was weighed out and mix with pectin. The beaker was
removed from hot plate and the pectin-sugar mixture was dumped into the beaker and it was
mixed intimately until the sugar and pectin dissolve thoroughly. The beaker was put on the hot
plate and the remaining sugar was added to the solution. All the sugar was stirred until dissolved
and heated to boiling. The beaker was removed and weighed, W2 (weight of beaker + spoon +
jelly). The boiling was resumed until the final weight of jelly formed is 375g (W2-W1). The
beaker was removed from hot plate and it was let to cool for 1 minute. Any foam was skinned off
from the surface by using a spoon. The hot jelly was poured into the jelly cups and the content
was mixed with a glass rod. The cups were covered with paper and it was allowed to stand for 18
to 24 hours. Jellies of different grades were prepared by different batches. After 18 or 24 hours,
the jellies are removed from jelly cups and placed on different plates. The jellies are cut with
knife and tested for the characteristic quality of a good jelly.

RESULT

Firmness

Jelly grade Sharpness Stickiness and Tenderness

Quiverness

100 1 5 1 5

110 1 5 2 5

120 2 4 2 5

130 2 4 2 4

140 1 5 1 5

150 2 3 3 3

160 2 3 3 3

170 3 2 1 2

180 1 5 4 5

190 1 5 1 5
 200 1 5 2 4

Table 1.1: The characteristics of the pectin jelly from different jelly grade.

Firmness

Sharpness Stickiness and Tenderness

Quiverness

1. Very slightly 1. Very slightly 1. Very slightly 1. Very slightly

sharp sticky firm and quiver tender

2. Slightly sharp 2. Slightly sticky 2. Slightly firm and 2. Slightly tender

quiver
3. Moderately sharp 3. Moderately sticky 3. Moderately tender
3. Moderately firm
4. Extremely sharp 4. Extremely sticky and quiver 4. Extremely tender

5. Very extremely 5. Very extremely 4. Extremely firm 5. Very extremely

sharp sticky and quiver tender

5. Very extremely
firm and quiver

Table 1.2: Scales for characteristic evaluation of pectin jelly.

DISCUSSION

Based from this experiment, jelly grade of pectin was determined by making test jellies to
produce a good quality jelly product and also needed to understand the role of pectin. First and
foremost, pectin is a water soluble fiber and used in various food as emulsifier, stabilizer, gelling
and thickening agent (Vanitha & Khan, 2019). Besides, jelly grade of pectin is the weight of
sugar which one part by weight of pectin will under a suitable condition form a jelly. Jelly grade
used in this experiment is from 100 to 200. In this case, the different jelly grade was conducted
using different ratio weight of pectin and sugar follows the ingredients that were given. There are
two types of pectin which are liquid pectin and dry pectin. Dry pectin was used in the making of
jellies test and Smith (2003) stated that dry pectin does not readily go into solution. He also
found that paste-like lumps are formed when dry pectin is added water. In addition, solution is
greatly facilitated by heating the water or juice, then adding a pectin and sugar mixture (Smith,
2003). Most commercial pectin contains dextrose to facilitate dispersion in solution.

Next, sugar, pH and pectin are essentials in making jelly because the effect of these
ingredients balancing is significant on the quality characteristics of the final product. Adding
citric acid in the process to gives better control of the pH and minimizes pre-gelling of the batch
and hydrolysis of pectin. Sugar used will regulate the gelling of the fruit jellies and preserves it.
Furthermore, boiling process is one of the most important steps in jelly making. Its principle
purpose is to increase the concentration of the sugar to the point where gelling will occur. The
boiling process should not be prolonged because it wills resultant loss of colour to the product.
Coagulated material should be removed and the mixture should be stirred to insure thorough
mixing and uniform heating. So, it can produce jelly that have good edges, do not sticky, firm
and tender.

Besides that, there are few requirement of a good jelly such as the jellies should have
sharp edges when cutting, the jellies should not stick to the knife, the jellies should be firm and
quiver when shake and jelly should have optimum tenderness. From the result above, jelly grade
170 shown moderately sharp edges compared to the jelly grade 100, 110, 180, 190 and 200
which have no sharp edges. In terms of stickiness, jelly grade 170 also has slightly sticky to the
knife compare to jelly grade 100, 110, 140, 180, 190 and 200 which have very extremely sticky
to the knife. Other than that, jelly grade 180 has extremely firm and quivered when shake
meanwhile jelly grade 100, 140, 170 and 190 which have very slightly firm quiver. Next, for
tenderness, jelly grade-170 has very slightly tender while jelly grades 100, 110, 120, 140, 180
and 190 have very extremely tender. Thus, jelly grade 170 could be classified as a good jelly
which have moderately sharp edges, slightly sticky to the knife upon cutting and moderately
tender compare to others jelly grades but slightly firm and quiver when shake.
 But, according to Smith (2003), he pointed out that the common commercial pectin used
is 150 of grade pectin due to formation 65% of solid when with sugar, water and addition of acid
will give optimum pH to the jelly. Compared to the result obtained, the characteristic end
product of the jelly in jelly grade 150 was not in a good quality whereby the jelly was only
slightly sharp edges, moderately stick to the knife, moderately firm and quiver and also
moderately tender. The jelly should have sharp edges, does not stick to the knife upon cutting,
firm and quiver when shake and have optimum tenderness. Thus, the result is slightly different
from the common commercial pectin above. This might be due to some errors during conducting
the experiment such as the weight of pectin and sugar not accurate and the temperature of water
below boiling point so that the pectin-sugar mixture does not dissolve completely.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, the role of pectin has been understood which act as emulsifier, stabilizer,
gelling and thickening agent (Vanitha & Khan, 2019). Other than that, jelly grade of pectin to
produce a good quality jelly product was determined which was jelly grade 170. But, according
to Smith (2003), he pointed out that the common commercial pectin used is 150 of grade pectin
due to formation 65% of solid when with sugar, water and addition of acid will give optimum pH
to the jelly.

REFERENCES

Smith, D.A. (2003). Jam and Preserves: Methods of Manufacture. Encyclopedia of Food Science
and Nutrition. 3409-3415. https://doi.org/10.1016/B0-12-227055-X/00660-X

Vanitha,T., & Khan, M. (2019, February 22). Role of Pectin in Food Processing and Food
Packaging. Retrieved from

https://www.intechopen.com/online-first/role-of-pectin-in-food-processing-and-food-
packaging