Obtaining candied fruit of Calabash (Lagenaria siceraria)

Calabash is considered a non-traditional herb, for not being normally consumed. Osmotic dehydration is an alternative to add value to this vegetable. The objective of this study was to develop candied fruit of calabash ( Lagenaria siceraria) and evaluate their physical, chemical and sensory characteristics. The calabash was sanitized, peeled, cut into cubes and bleached. For the osmotic process of calabash pieces, sucrose was dissolved in water and treatments were prepared namely: T1 - Sucrose concentration at 10%; T2 - Sucrose concentration at 20%; T3 - Sucrose concentration at 40% and T4 - Sucrose concentration at 60%. The calabash cubes remained in their respective concentrations for a period of 10 days until complete saturation. After the crystallization the cubes were washed in running water and dried in an oven at a temperature of 60 oC for 6 hours. The physical, chemical, microbiological and sensory analyzes were performed. There was no significant difference between the treatments for pH values. The treatment T4 showed higher value of ascorbic acid (2.06) at the end of the treatment days. Moisture was greater in treatment T1, while T4 presented the lowest moisture content. T4 showed higher soluble solids content. The values found for molds and yeasts were within the legislation. The treatments T3 and T4 showed the highest acceptance rate for all the evaluated attributes. The in natura calabash transformation for its candied form added value to this product.