Discovering the Possibilities of Watermelon (Citrullus Lanatus) Rind in Making Pickles

Abstract

Watermelon is one of the most consumed fruits while its rind takes up to 40% of its total weight that contributes to the agricultural waste. This research aims to develop a product that reduces the contribution of the rind to agricultural waste the pickled watermelon rind with its major objective of answering the questions regarding the contents, development process, nutritional contents, appropriate packaging materials and the acceptability of the developed product in terms of flavor, texture, taste, color, and packaging. The researchers used DDR or Design and Development Research. This study was conducted in Philippine Normal University South Luzon where expert criterion sampling was used to select the evaluators. The mixed method was the major research approach used in this study. For the evaluation the researchers used 4-point Likert scale, thus mean and analysis of variance were used to interpret and analyze the data. Researchers concluded that the use of watermelon rind in making pickles is acceptable as it receives a total of 3.617 mean score with a description of highly acceptable. Results show that watermelon rind can be used and developed into pickles which reduces its contribution to agricultural waste and opens opportunities to create new food products demonstrating its significance in both environmentally and economically, indicating the possibility of additional research and development.