The popular products prepared using pineapple in this area are juice, squash, halva, jam, candy, pickles, chutney and vine.The ‘Pineapple fruit’ is processed into a range of refreshing food products. Recognizing the vast potential of Kerala’s finest farms, a project ‘Kerala Horticulture Development Programme (KHDP)’ was promoted jointly by the European Union and Government of Kerala. A fruit processing unit was established under this project at Nadukkara, near Vazhakulam. The delicious fruits of Kerala are transformed into a wide range of products with brand identity ‘JIVE’.
- Reception and weighing of pineapples. Select the raw material and remove damaged parts. Remove the stem. Wash the pineapples in drinking water.
- Peel the pineapples and remove the inedible parts. Cut the pineapples as required. They may be cut into slices (rings), chunks, and tidbit or may be crushed.
- Heat the pineapple pieces in the pot, as illustrated. Fill the jars with the pieces while they are still warm, up to approximately two thirds of their capacity.
- The hot syrup is added to the fruit, which has been arranged in the jars. Make sure that the jars are filled to the brim. Let the jars settle for 5 minutes to allow them and the fruit to warm up. Seal the jars hermetically. Sterilize the jars in boiling water for 20 minutes after placing them in bags to prevent them from knocking against each other and breaking when the water begins to boil. Cool the jars with running water. Dry, seal with adhesive tape, label and store.
Processing:
Pineapple has been known to be excellent for drying. In this product, most of the free water of the fruit is eliminated. To prepare, select fully ripe, fresh pineapple. Remove skin and eyes from pineapple with a sharp knife. Usually, chunks or slices are prepared for better presentation and make handling easier. Final moisture is near 5%, and this allows the dried fruit to have a long shelf life as long as proper packing is provided and storage is done in a fresh place.
Food preservation may be defined as the set of treatment processes that are performed to prolong the life of foods and at the same time retain the features that determine their quality, like color, texture, flavor and especially nutritional value. Food preservation processes have different time scales, ranging from short periods needed for home cooking and cold storage methods, to much longer periods of time required by strictly controlled industrial procedures such as canning, freezing and dehydration.
The preservation of fruits and vegetables entails the partial utilization of the raw material. In some cases, during the process it becomes necessary to add a packing medium, e.g., syrup or brine, while in others the raw material is used alone, as in frozen products. The raw material may be processed differently, depending upon the product to be obtained, e.g. vegetables in sauce, jellies, pickles and juices, for instance. The same raw material may be processed in different ways, as a result of which different products will be manufactured. In general terms, some processing methods are mentioned as below.
- Refrigeration
- Cold storage with modified atmosphere
- Superficial chemical treatments
- Special storage condition
- Packaging systems involving modifications in atmosphere
- Canning
- Freezing
- Dehydration
- Preservation Methods by Chemical Action
Acids, salts and sugars are the principal food preservatives of a chemical nature. Sodium chloride is perhaps the oldest compound serving as a preservative. Acids, mainly lactic, but occasionally including propionic, are produced. Acetic acid in the form of vinegar is used in the manufacture of several pickled products. Benzoic acid, sodium salts - sodium propionate, di acetate and sulfur dioxide, and sodium chloride are added to foods to prevent spoilage. Sugars are employed in the manufacture of jelly, jams, preserves, sweetened condensed milk, sweet pickles, and other products aiding the preservation of the products into which they are incorporated.
Preservation by the addition of sugar: Sugar is generally added in the processing of jams, jellies and sweet. The fruit must be boiled, after which the sugar is added in variable amounts, depending upon the kind of fruit and the product being prepared. The mixture must then continue to boil until it reaches a high level of soluble solids, which allows for its preservation. The addition of sugar combines with certain fruit substances to produce a gel - like consistency, which characterizes the texture of jams and jellies. To achieve this, appropriate acidity levels and sugar content, together with pectin, form a proper gel.
Benzoic acid and benzoate: Benzoic acid is a stable, white, granular or crystalline powder possessing a sweet, stringent taste. The sodium salt is more soluble in water (62.5 g in 100 ml) at 25° C than benzoic acid. For this reason it is the preferred form for industrial use. Sodium benzoate has an optimum pH range between 2.5 and 4.0. If the pH of the food product is above pH 4.5, acidification may be desirable; the benzoate can be 100 times more active at this optimal pH as compared to pH above 6.0. The microbial level decides the amount of benzoate required. Temperature also plays a part; cold-stored juices need less benzoate. Some fruit juices at 30° C require as much as 0.05% to prevent fermentation. Consequently, juice should be kept cool or have lower numbers of yeast organisms. For preservation of a wide variety of foods, sodium benzoate or benzoic acid is used in amounts of less than 0.1 percent.
Sulfur dioxide: Sulfur dioxide is used to treat fruits and vegetables before and after dehydration to extend the storage life of fresh grapes, and to prevent the growth of undesirable microorganisms during winemaking and the manufacture of juices. Sulfur dioxide is more effective against mold spores and bacteria than against yeast; therefore it is combined with sodium benzoate, which is more effective against yeast, for fruit squashes. Sulfur dioxide is also used as a preservative in manufactured meats, sausage, and soft cheeses. In meat the flesh color is stabilized.
Sulfur dioxide is added to dried fruit in amounts up to 3000 ppm; less in dehydrated vegetables. During their storage, sulfur dioxide slows deteriorate changes, such as severe darkening in color and off-flavors. Its reducing action is valuable in preventing the loss of ascorbic acid in dried fruits and vegetables and the disappearance of beta-carotene (pro-vitamin A) in vegetables. Frequently as much as 90 percent sulfur dioxide is removed by steam during the cooking of dried fruits and vegetables.
Sulfur dioxide is usually applied to vegetables after blanching and before dehydration, in the form of Sodium metabisulphite solution. The uses of sulphites, or sulfur dioxide, to treat vegetables prior to dehydration, aids in the prevention of deteriorative changes during dehydration and storage. Sulfur dioxide is a useful agent for the prevention of browning reactions in dried fruits. It should be declared on the label, for those consumers who may be sensitive to it, e.g. people with an asthmatic condition.
Treatment with acid: Most foods may be preserved by heat treatment when they have a pH lower than 4.0. For this reason several methods have been developed which control the pH through the production of acid, or the addition of some organic acid, like acetic, citric and even lactic acid. The acidification of low-acidity vegetables to less than pH 4.5 for commercial sterilization-based processing, with brief sterilization periods at temperatures of 100°C, is a very practical method to employ on a small-scale and even home processing.
Dehydrated pineapple: Pineapple has been known to be excellent for drying. In this product, most of the free water of the fruit is eliminated. To prepare, select fully ripe, fresh pineapple. Remove skin and eyes from pineapple with a sharp knife. Usually, chunks or slices are prepared for better presentation and make handling easier. Final moisture is near 5%, and this allows the dried fruit to have a long shelf life as long as proper packing is provided and storage is done in a fresh place.
By-products
Pineapple (Ananas comosus L. Merr.) processing generates major by-products in the peel that represents the largest portion (30–42%, w/w); followed of the core (9–10%); stem (2–5%, w/w); and crown (2–4%, w/w). These by-products account for 50% (w/w) of total pineapple weight and are a potential source of important compounds such as sucrose, glucose, fructose, cellulose, fiber, bromelain and phenolics. These compounds can be extracted to obtain bromelain and cellulose nano-crystals. Peel flour has very good prebiotic potential to support probiotic bacteria in the gut. Fermentable sugars and other nutrients make pineapple waste extracts excellent media to produce enzymes, single cell proteins, bacterial cellulose and organic acids. Waste can also be utilized to produce vinegar and vanillin and to extract bioactive compounds that can be used in food, pharmaceutical or allied industries. The waste also has the potential to act as alternative source of energy.
Fruits, benefits, processing, preservation and pineapple recipes in PDF
