QUALITY RETENTION BY HOT FILL METHOD FOR GLASS JAR-PACKAGED SHALLOT-BASED CHILI SAUCE

This study aims to determine quality change of shallot-based chili sauce (sambal bawang) in glass jar packaging during storage at room temperature. There were two treatments done to the chili sauce. Both samples were preserved with sodium benzoate with different treatments in filling. Sample A was filled at room temperature 35oC and sample B was hot-filled at 70oC. Both samples were incubated for 56 days at room temperature (± 28oC). During the storage period, Free Fatty Acid (FFA) content and Total Plate Count (TPC) were analyzed on day 0, day 14, and day 56. For Sample A and B, the FFA test showed a significant increase in FFA levels during storage on day 14. However, sample B showed a decrease in FFA content on day 56 while sample A was even higher. TPC test showed there was an increase of microorganism activity on day 14 for sample A and the sample was fully contaminated on day 56. For sample B, there were fluctuations during storage, but it maintained an allowable amount microorganism by day 56 (5.5 x 101 ± 6.3 cfu/g). These results indicate that the hot-filling process (70oC) for shallot-based chili sauce in glass-jar packaging can maintain the quality of shallot-based chili sauce during storage at room temperature