Chelsea Ugay Jiezl Santos STRAWBERRY JAM Strawberries, which have hundreds of varieties, are non-climacteric fruits having

a scarlet flesh with tiny numerous seeds on its skin and attached green leafy cap and stem. This highly perishable fruit is an excellent source of Vitamin C, antioxidants and manganese, and contains low amount of calories (whfoods.com; Harris, 2007). In Baguio, one of their famous products usually bought as a pasalubong is strawberry jam made by the nuns of Good Shepherd (asiatravel.com).

FN 11 - WFI

One way of preserving this fruit is by making it into a jam or jelly. But strawberries are low in pectin (Harris, 2007), and we know that pectin is an essential ingredient in jams and jellies because it serves as a gelling substance (Brown, 2011). Hence, the food phenomenon we would like to tackle is If strawberries are low in pectin, how are they made into jam? We are interested to know it because the fruits which are usually made into jams are those which have an adequate amount of pectin (Brown, 2011). It made us curious how producers make strawberry jams have the desired consistency or viscosity. A recipe for strawberry jam is presented in a flow diagram below. The ingredients are fresh strawberries, lemon juice, sugar, and powdered pectin. Strawberry is the main ingredient of strawberry jam; it provides the juice and gives the flavour. Lemon juice is the source of acid. It adds flavour, and aids in the gelling of the jam. It prevents pectin molecules from repelling from each other. Sugar preserves the strawberries by absorbing the moisture from the fruit. It also gives the sweetness of the jam, maintains the firmness of the fruit, and makes gelling possible. Lastly, pectin is the secret ingredient which aids in the gelling of the jam and provides the desired consistency of the jam (Brown, 2011). To make the jam, first, wash the strawberries, drain then remove the leaves and stem. Next step is to crush it to extract the juice. One can leave a few chunks of the fruit. In a large pot, combine the crushed fruit, lemon juice and pectin. Bring the mixture to a boil while stirring occasionally. Afterwards, add the sugar and stir until it dissolves. Allow it to boil hard for a minute while stirring constantly. Remove pot from heat and skim foam if needed. Next transfer the jam into sterile jars. Dont fill the jar up to the rim, leave around inch headspace. Cover the jars and then heat it for 10 minutes in a boiling water bath canner to kill harmful microorganisms (vegetable-gardeningonline.com).

Wash 2 quarts fresh strawberries, drain and hull.

Allow mixture to return a rolling boil

Crush berries. Combine fruit, cup lemon juice and 1 pack pectin in a large pot. Boil the mixture, stirring occasionally. Add sugar and stir until it dissolves.

Stir constantly; allow jam to boil hard for a minute. Remove pot from heat. Skim if needed.

Spoon jam into hot jars leaving inch headspace. Cover.

Process for 10 minutes in a boiling water bath canner

Pectin is a naturally occurring substance, a polysaccharide, found in berries, apples and other fruit. When heated together with sugar, it causes the thickening that is characteristic of jams and jellies. (pickyourown.org) All fruits contain pectin in the skins and to a lesser extent in the pulp. However, the amount of pectin varies with the type of fruit and the stage of maturity. Apples, citrus peels and passion fruit for example, contain a high concentration of pectin; strawberries and melon contain less. In general, the amount of pectin in fruit decreases as the fruit matures. (ieham.org) High-ester pectin at soluble solids content above 60% and a pH-value between 2.8 and 3.6, hydrogen-bonds and hydrophobic interactions bind the individual pectin chains together. These bonds form as water is bound by sugar and forces pectin strands to stick together. These form a 3-dimensional molecular net that creates the macromolecular gel. The gelling-mechanism is called a low-water-activity gel or sugar-acid-pectin gel. In low-ester pectin, ionic bridges are formed between calcium and carboxylic acid of the galacturonic acid. This is idealized in the so-called egg box-model. Low-ester pectin need calcium to form a gel, but can do so at lower soluble solids and higher pH-values than high-ester pectins. (Wikipedia.org)

Effectively, pectin's structure binds with water in an acid environment. Sugar increases pectin's ability to gel, and affects the texture and consistency of jellies and jams as they cool and set. Note: sugar is not key to the preservation of the jam - the sterile environmental and acidity is more important. (ieham.org) Preserve making with high-low pectin fruit can use the loose jam approach or making set jams. Making a set jam will require naturally high levels of pectin or some way of compensating when preserving fruits with medium to low pectin content. (Susan Morris, 2009) Making a set jam with lower pectin content in fruit, in our case is strawberry, requires preserving sugar or jam sugar for a guaranteed high pectin content and good set to the fruit preserve. For best results, half the recipe's amount of preserving sugar or jam sugar can be added to fruit with low pectin content with freshly squeezed lime juice and then mashed to allow the pectin content of the preserving or jam sugar and the limes to infuse into the low pectin fruit. (Susan Morris, 2009) Also, although it is possible to get a good preserve using the pectin already in the fruit, it is better to buy pectin powder or solution and add a known amount to the fruit juice or pulp. This will produce a standardized gel each time and there will be less risk of a batch failing to set. (ieham.org) Jam or jelly made with added pectin requires less cooking, retains more natural fruit flavors, and generally gives a larger yield. In addition, using added pectin eliminates the need to test hot jellies and jams for proper gelling. (anrcatalog.ucdavis.edu) The preservation principles of jam, jelly and marmalade production are quite complex, but in essence involve the correct combination of acidity, sugar level and pectin content. All three must be correct to obtain a satisfactory product. (ieham.org) In order to know and learn about our phenomenon, we read and researched on strawberries on how it can be made into jam despite of having a low content of pectin. Also, we applied what weve learned in our FN11 class which has been very helpful to us. Through this exercise weve learned that strawberry jams are also known to the other countries, not only in the Philippines. Also, weve realized that in jam making it is crucial for us to know the critical points in making the gel for it not to be too runny or too stiff or lumpy. Strawberry jam is a very old recipe. Our elders used to make it before even without knowing the principles and fundamental concepts behind it. Most of our Filipino foods were traditionally done and was passed through generations and generations with just the recipe we used to know. But in spite of that, not knowing or understanding the principles and the concepts, they were able to make it deliciously with a very refine and delicate taste.

REFERENCES: Brown, A. 2011. Understanding Food: Principles and Preparation. 4th ed. Cengage Learning. Harris, L. J., 2007. Strawberries: Safe Methods to Store, Preserve and Enjoy. Regents of the University of California, Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Web (1) (2) (3) (4) (5)

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=32 http://www.asiatravel.com/philippines/baguio1.html http://www.vegetable-gardening-online.com/strawberry-jam-recipe.html http://www.pickyourown.org/pectin.htm http://susan-morris.suite101.com/natural-pectin-content-of-berry-and-tree-fruitsa106156 (6) http://www.ieham.org/html/docs/jams_jellies_marmalades.pdf (7) http://anrcatalog.ucdavis.edu/pdf/8256.pdf