Abstract: Fresh jujubes were softened, beaten into pulp and cooked with the addition of white sugar and citric acid to prepare fruit jam. Various softening parameters were investigated. White sugar and citric acid amounts and cooking time were optimized by orthogonal array design. The results indicated that steam softening could maintain most nutrients of jujubes. Cooking time had the highest effect on jam quality, followed by white sugar amount; the effect of citric acid amount was the weakest. Fruit jam with high sensory and nutritional quality was obtained through beating jujubes in the presence of water at a mass ratio of 1:1 into pulp followed by 15 min cooking with the addition of 140 g of white sugar and 0.8 g of citric acid.

Key words: jujube, jam, softening, processing technology, sensory quality