Desarrollo de una conserva a base de berenjena (Solanum melongena) aplicando técnicas de escabeche.

Abstract

Eggplants are high yielding fruits that can be harvested up to four times per year that because of their short shelf life are not taken advantage of in the country even though Ecuador has the adequate conditions for it to thrive. That is why this investigation tries to search for a way to take advantage of eggplant`s ability to absorb flavors and vinegar´s effect of prolonging shelf life to determine the possibility of creating a product that maintains its original physical, chemical and organoleptic qualities. The investigation is of a descriptive and experimental nature, and applies procedures that allow the correct description and characterization of the best treatment, besides bringing out the best sensorial qualities in the raw materials. The implemented softwares were Design-Expert 11 for designing the treatments, Microsoft Excel, which was used to table the information and graphics, and Infostat for the analysis of variance of the obtained organoleptic results. Several treatments which took into account percentages of 25%, 35% and 45% of vinegar were made, these treatments also differed between them by the content of olive, sunflower or corn oil. Taking into account relevant similar studies, the results were physically, chemically, biologically and organoleptically evaluated, reaching the conclution that the best treatment included olive oil and 45% vinegar. The cost-benefit analysis was made with a profit margin of 20% and concluded that the exploitation of this raw material was profitable by 25 cents per dollar invested.