Mango jellies

Jams, jellies and marmalades are collective known as preserves and are semisolid gels each made using the same process. Jams, jellies, marmalades, conserves and fruit butters are made by boiling together fruit and sugar to give a high solids product.

Commercial mango jellies production developed from home prepared preserves and desserts made during fruit season and are still practice in one form or other as cottage industry.

Jelly – is made from filtered fruit juice, no pieces of fruit or insoluble solids present. Mango jelly is a clear or translucent fruit spread made from sweetened mango juice and set using naturally occurring pectin. An ideal jelly has the characteristic color and flavor of the fruit from which it is made. It forms a delicate, quivering mold-not too stiff and not too soft; it is tender and spreads easily on bread.

Jelly can be made from sweet, savory or hot ingredients. It is made by a process similar to that used for making jam, with the additional step of filtering out the fruit pulp after initial heating. It was prepared with a high concentration of dissolved solids so fermentation can be avoided.

How to prepare mango jelly? Jellies are prepared by boiling mango in water. The extract obtained is strained and measured quantity of sugar is added to it. Sugar serves as a preserving agent and adds to the flavor of a jellied product. The mixture is then boiled to a stage at which it will set to a clear gel.

The consistency of jellies depends upon the type of pectin, and lack of knowledge about the requirements necessary for the pectin gel formation frequently contributes to products of undesirable consistency.

A perfect jelly will quiver, not flow, when removed from its mold; a product with texture so tender that it cuts easily with a spoon, and yet so firm that the angles so produced retain their shape.
Mango jellies

Mango fruit

The mango fruit is a large, fleshy drupe, containing an edible monocarp of varying thickness.  The average weight of mature mango fruit may range between 60 to 800 g.

The mesocarp is resinous and highly variable with respect to shape, size, color, presence of fiber and flavor.

Fruit length can range from 5 to 25 cm depending on the cultivar. The endocarp is woody, thick and fibrous. Fruit range in shape from spherical to ovoid to elongate, with many variations in between. The surface of the fruit varies to undulating

A ripe mango is soft to touch, with a pleasant aroma, and has a flavor often described as a peach-pineapple combination.

Ripe mango fruit may be greenish yellow or yellow in color, or it may have a yellow background color with various shades of orange, red or purple which occur as a ‘blush’ on a variable portion of the surface.

Time from flowering to fruit maturity takes 3-6 months depending upon cultivar and temperatures.

Mango is a climacteric fruit, which is best harvest in a mature but unripe stage, about 2.5 to 4.5 months from blooming and usually transported in the firm, green preclimacteric stage.
Mango fruit