Comparative acceptability and stability of toffee made from powdered and fresh juice of Morinda citrifolia

Toffee, a hard-boiled candy, was enriched with 5% mengkudu juice or mengkudu powder. Organoleptic, chemical and microbiological qualities of mengkudu toffees in twist-wrapped metallised film and plain cellophane were evaluated for 6 months duration. The mengkudu juice toffee (MIT) was preferred over the mengkudu powder toffee (MPT) especially for attributes such as overall acceptability, aroma and texture. The overall acceptability of MIT was higher and significantly different at second month (p 0.01) and third month (p 0.05) compared to MPT. Similarly, aroma of MIT was slightly preferred over MPT throughout storage period, which was significantly different at the fifth month (p 0.05). Texture for freshly prepared MIT as well as samples stored for two months was found to be significantly preferred over MPT, and the difference was significant at p 0.01 and p 0.05, respectively. The product acceptability was reduced with the storage period due to increase in water activity. Free fatty acid of the MIT and MPT products was below 0.5-1.5% (calculated as oleic acid). Microbiological evaluation showed that freshly prepared and stored samples were safe for consumption. Plain cellophane or metallised materials showed no significant differences in retaining toffee sensory attributes.