Ready‐to‐Use Jackfruit Pulp Packaged in Retort Pouch: Deterioration Kinetics and Principal Component Analysis‐Mediated Selection of Quality Product

ABSTRACT Unveiling the performance of retort‐processed foods in terms of deteriorative quality changes during extended storage has been a subject of limited research. Therefore, a point in case is the retort‐processed ripe jackfruit pulp that has garnered scanty or nil reports. Initially, 12 formulations of jackfruit pulp (P1–P12) containing varying concentrations of citric acid (CA) (0, 0.1, 0.3, 0.5%) and exposed to different autoclaving durations (20, 30, 40 min) were tested, along with a control bearing neither any CA nor autoclaved (i.e., pristine pulp). Based on principal component analysis (PCA) of their sensory scores, P1 (0% CA, 20 min), P2 (0.1% CA, 20 min), and P5 (0% CA, 30 min) were selected for further storage study, during which physicochemical, microbial, and sensory parameters were monitored until the attainment of any detectable microbial colony. As storage time increased, there was a continual decline in quality traits, with P5 showing the most pronounced changes ( p < 0.05). Inclusion of CA and shorter retorting time could delay the degradation of carotenoids, sugars, and organoleptic properties and even decelerate the increase in the browning index. Reaction rate kinetics and PCA‐mediated segregation of stored samples clearly indicated that P2 can retain utmost stability with favorable organoleptic acceptability for 300 days.