Evaluation of Physicochemical Characteristics and Sensory Qualities of Fruit Roll Ups Made from Watermelon

Watermelon biomass can be categorised into flesh, seed, and rind. Although discarded, the rind is edible and nutritious. Objective: The study aimed to optimise watermelon fruit rolls-up formulation combining the flesh and rind purees. F1 (80:0), F2 (70:10), F3 (60:20), F4 (50:30), F5 (40:40), F6 (30:50), and F7 (20:60) were formulated from watermelon flesh-to-rind purees. Methodology: Samples were prepared by pasteurising the watermelon flesh and rind purees with a predetermined amount of ingredients at 90 °C for 5 min, then dried at 60°C for 11 hours, cut, rolled and packed in an aluminium polyethene bag until evaluation. Results: There were significant differences in pH, total soluble solids (TSS), moisture content (MC), water activity (Aw) and thickness of the samples. It showed that the increase of watermelon flesh puree in the formulations reduced the pH value and thickness of the samples. By contrast, the increase in watermelon rind puree decreases the samples' TSS, MC and Aw values. For sensory acceptance, the F2 sample had the highest mean scores for colour, texture (chewiness), sweetness, sourness and overall acceptability, indicating it was the most preferred formulation among panellists. Conclusion: Thus, watermelon rind may be employed in watermelon fruit roll-up formulations to improve their physicochemical and sensory properties.