Piña Y Sus Oportunidades De Producción

PINEAPPLE PROCESSING OPPORTUNITIES

1. Dehydrated

2. Vacuum packed

3. Juice

4. Fruit in syrup

5. Sweet n Sour

6. Wine

7. Vinegar

8. Jam/Marmalade

9. Crystallised

10. Bars

Protocols for dehydrated & vacuum packed finalised

Other under finalisation

Dehydrated

Introduction

Dehydrated pineapples are dried slices of pineapple fruits, which may be used as snacks or incorporated in other food preparations. They have a semi-hard and feathery texture and a sweet taste with the characteristic flavour and colour of the fruit. Dehydration preserves most of the nutritive value, compared to other processed pineapple products such as jam, jelly, marmalade or candied/crystallised fruit. The sugar content is also much less compared to the latter products.

Principles of preservation

Preservation relies on the removal of moisture by soaking in a sucrose solution, followed by drying. A sulphiting process may be used to reduce the number of micro-organisms and to prevent browning of fruits during drying and storage, thus retaining the natural colour of the fruit.

Materials required

1.6-1.8 kg of fresh pineapples (yielding 1.0 kg sliced fresh pineapple rings)

600 ml water (boiled and cooled)

240 g white sugar

0.6 g sodium metabisulphite

0.2 g citric acid

Preparation

• Harvest pineapples at correct stage of maturity (80% yellow colouration) early morning and keep the fruits in shade. Transport fruits in crates, protected from the direct sun. Avoid piling fruits on the ground or in vehicles and handle the fruits with care to avoid mechanical damage.

• Grade pineapples to uniform size and maturity (80% yellow coloration).

• Dry wash using an air brush. Chop the top leaves, leaving part of the crown for easy handling. Remove bottom end (tail) and peel using a sharp, short and pointed knife. Carve pineapples using a sharp knife alongside the longest line of ‘eyes’.

• Wash under running tap water to remove any debris. Strict personal hygiene needs to be observed now onwards.

• Slice the fruit uniformly using a sharp knife or a slicer board (6-8 mm thickness)

• Dip slices in chlorinated water (1 tablespoonful ‘Eau de Javel’ in 3 L of water) for 3-5 minutes to reduce microbial load. Rinse under running tap water to remove excess chlorinated water

• Prepare a sucrose solution using 240 g of cane sugar and 600 ml of boiled-and-cooled water. Then add 0.6 g of sodium metabisulphite and 0.2 g of citric acid to the sucrose solution. Soak the fruit slices in the sucrose solution for 18-20 hours. This process will remove almost half of the moisture, thus reducing energy cost during drying.

• Remove the fruit slices, rinse under running water, and blot dry with a lint free kitchen cloth.

• Arrange slices on a stainless steel plate and allow to dry at 55-60°C in a ventilated oven for 18-20 hours, overturning slices after 1 – 2 hours of drying

Process control

The thickness of the fruit slices affects the time needed for pre-treatments such as sulphiting and sucrose dip and time needed for drying. Slices should have uniform thickness; otherwise the fruit slices will not dry uniformly to the same final moisture content. Concentration of metabisulphite solution is very important and this is controlled by the local Food Act. Temperature and duration of drying are important parameters to be monitored to get a stable and properly dried fruit.

Yield

From 1 kg of fresh pineapples, around 100 g of dehydrated slices may be obtained

Packaging and storage

Vacuum pack (73% vacuum level) in laminated bags or store in hermetic jars in a cool, dry place, away from direct light. Moisture-proof packages (such as HDPE pouches of 60 thickness) may also be used.

Shelf life

Without any preservative, a shelf life of 4 months was obtained. The use of sodium metabisulphite and citric acid increase the shelf life beyond 12 months.

Additional notes

- Dried fruits may also be made from mango, banana, pawpaw, strawberry, litchi, star fruit and a range of temperate fruits like pear, peach, apricot, apple and the like. However, the drying temperate, duration of drying, concentration of sucrose solution, type of preservative and concentration of the preservative used would differ from fruit to fruit.

- Dried fruits may also be mixed with crystallised/candied fruits and/or salted nuts and sold as snacks

Juice

Procedure

• Harvest pineapples at correct stage of maturity (80 % yellow colouration) early morning and keep the fruits in shade. Transport fruits in crates, protected from direct sun light. Avoid piling fruits on the ground or in vehicles ad handle the fruit with care to avoid bruising and mechanical damage

• Grade pineapples to uniform size and maturity (80 % yellow colouration)

• Dry wash using a vacuum cleaner

• Chop the top leaves, leaving part of the crown for easy handling. Remove bottom end (tail) and peel using a sharp, short and pointed knife.

• Carve pineapples using a sharp knife alongside the longest line of ‘eyes’

• Wash under running water to remove any debris, wearing hygienic gloves

• Peel and cut fruits into pieces

• Extract

...