Curdlan Reduces Pineapple Jam Production Time by Two-Thirds While Maintaining Quality

Turning pineapples into jam may soon become faster, cheaper, and more sustainable thanks to curdlan, a natural polysaccharide with unique gelling properties. Researchers tested varying levels of curdlan in pineapple jam and found that it cut cooking time from three hours to just one, while also strengthening texture, reducing water loss, and improving stability. Even with these changes, consumer panels reported no loss in taste or overall appeal. The study points to curdlan as a functional alternative to costly pectin, especially for low-pectin fruits like pineapple. These findings could help reduce food waste while keeping jams delicious and affordable.

Pineapple, the world's third most-produced tropical fruit, is rich in flavor and nutrition but highly perishable, with nearly one-third of harvests lost after picking. Processing pineapples into jam offers a way to preserve this fruit, yet traditional production relies heavily on pectin. Pectin is not only expensive and limited in supply but also naturally scarce in pineapple flesh, making jam production technically challenging. Manufacturers often struggle to balance consistency, stability, and cost. Due to these problems, there is a need to explore alternative gelling agents for pineapple jam production.

A team from Universiti Sains Malaysia and Mountains of the Moon University has identified curdlan as a promising substitute for pectin in jam-making. Their study, published on July 18, 2025, in Food Quality and Safety, tested pineapple jams prepared with up to 1.5% curdlan. The researchers examined cooking efficiency, texture, color, and consumer acceptance. Their findings show that curdlan not only improved physical and structural properties but also maintained sensory qualities, pointing to a cost-effective innovation for one of the world's most popular fruit preserves. The complete study is available at https://doi.org/10.1093/fqsafe/fyaf033.

The researchers prepared four jam formulations containing 0%, 0.5%, 1%, and 1.5% curdlan. The results were striking: the highest curdlan concentration reduced cooking time from three hours to just one. This efficiency gain stemmed from curdlan's ability to bind water, accelerate soluble solids accumulation, and form dense gel networks. The jams also displayed reduced syneresis—liquid separation that can spoil consistency—and lower water activity, both of which are critical for safe storage. Color measurements showed improvements in brightness, redness, and yellowness, while texture tests revealed firmer, less sticky jams. Microscopic imaging confirmed that curdlan created compact, well-structured networks that reinforced product stability.

Importantly, a panel of 45 untrained tasters reported no significant differences in flavor, color, or overall acceptability across the samples. Interestingly, jams with 0.5% curdlan received the highest scores for spreadability, highlighting a balance between firmness and consumer-friendly texture. Taken together, these findings suggest that curdlan not only offers a practical solution to pectin shortages but also enhances efficiency and product quality in pineapple jam production. Lead author Shin-Yong Yeoh stated that curdlan could be a game-changer for fruit jam production by improving texture and stability while reducing cooking time, providing a low-cost and versatile alternative to pectin.

Beyond pineapple, curdlan could transform the way many fruit-based preserves are made. Its ability to shorten cooking time points to lower energy use and faster processing, while its strong gelling properties may help reduce post-harvest fruit waste by stabilizing perishable crops. For manufacturers, switching to curdlan could cut costs by replacing pectin, which remains expensive and limited in supply. For consumers, it means affordable jams with the same taste and appeal they expect. Looking ahead, validating curdlan in large-scale production and across diverse fruit types could make it a cornerstone of more sustainable, accessible, and innovative food systems.