Attempting to tell the difference between jam and preserves can be quite tricky. The distinction between jam and preserves is that jam is made from chopped or mashed fruit. It also contains sugar, lemon juice, and pectin.
Jam possesses a soft pulp, which is referred to as puree. The actual fruit that was crushed is not part of the jam, which makes it different from preserves. Preserves contain whole fruit that has the chunks of the fruit being the signature of the product. These chunks of fruit are typically cooked in sugar until the fruit is suspended in the syrup. Much of the time, preserves are a classic type of food that is homemade.