FRUITS AND VEGETABLES

Fruit
• the edible fleshy seed-bearing part of a plant or tree
• 75-95% water
• Favoured by all due to
Attractive appearance (color-carotenol, anthocyanine pigments)
Appealing flavor (organic acids-citric, malic, tartaric)
Pleasing odor
Nutritive value (vit. C/A, Na, K, Mg, fibre, cellulose)
Appetising effect
Sweetness due to starch (fructose, glucose)
Classification of fruits
Simple fruits - from one flower(citrus fruits)
Aggregate fruits – from several ovaries of one flower(blackberries,
raspberries, strawberries)
Multiple fruits – from a cluster of several flowers (pineapples, figs)
Vegetables
• Edible part of plants like bulbs, tubes, roots, seeds, fruits, stems,
leaves, flowers
• Important source of vitamins and minerals (contribute to the body’s
alkaline substances)
• Classifications:
Green leafy (carotene)
Roots and tubers (calories)
Others-legumes (proteins, starch)
Enzymatic browning
• oxidation of the tannins (phenolic compounds) catalyzed by oxidizing
agents such as the phenol oxidase enzyme to melanins with the
action of air
• Prevention
Changing the pH
Use of anti-oxidants
Thermal inactivation of oxidase
Elimination of O2 from the system
• Greenish purple discoloration due to rxn with iron salts
Non-enzymatic browning
• Formation of brown condensation products from reducing sugars and
amino acids on heating
• Prevention:
Low temp storage 0-5 deg C
Addition of SO2 for dehydrated vegetables
Keeping the moisture content low
Storage of Fresh fruits, vegetables
• Ripe fruits except bananas placed in plastic bags with punctured holes
and refrigerated
• Unripe fruits put in paper bag at room temp
• Must slow down respiration rates (cooler temp, controlled atm),
prevent moisture loss (humid atmosphere, mist, edible film or
coating)
• Dry storage for some vegetables (unripe tomatoes, eggplant, onions)
• High-tech storage (CA, MAP, edible coatings, shrinkwrap)
Controlled Atmosphere Storage
• High-tech preservation method available to commercial food
companies used worldwide on a variety of fresh fruits (esp. apples)
and vegetables
• enhances effects of refrigeration and humidity control
• Lowers oxygen content, increases carbon dioxide content
• Slows down ripening and deterioration of climacteric fruit
• Prolonged shelf-life and retains texture
• Disadvantage: expensive, reduce aroma development
Refrigeration
• Do not wash before refrigeration – spoilage issue
• short-term method of food preservation (days to weeks)
• Respiration, Microbial growth, enzyme/chemical rxns slowed down
• As a general rule, fresh-cut products shld be stored at 5 degC or
below except for chilling-sensitive fruits and vegetables 7-13 degC
• For every 10C rise in the range from 0-30C, the respiration and
deterioration rates increase 2-3x for non chilling-sensitive
• CA technology: A simple refrigeration unit consists of an evaporator, a
compressor, a condenser and an expansion valve; long-term storage
temp initially reduced to 0 °C for a week or so.
Humidity Control
• RH should be >80% for most, and up to 95% -100% for prodts very sensitive
to water loss, e.g., leafy vegetables and strawberries.
• Packaging materials, produce waxing, and reduced exposure to air
movement could also help reduce water losses.
• CA technology: Most fruits & vegetables require high RH when stored;
generally the closer to saturation the better, so long as moisture does not
condense on the fruits or vegetables.
• Spinning-disc humidifiers - water is broken down into tiny droplets and fed
into the air circulation system
• Sonic humidifiers utilize energy to detach tiny water droplets from a
water surface
Gas control equipment
• CA technology: in a modern CA store, an infrared gas analyser
constantly analyses for CO2 and paramagnetic analyser for O2 levels
• O2 Control: Frequently introducing fresh air from outside
• CO2 Ctrl: passive scrubbing (chemical), active scrubbing (activated C)
MA Packaging
• an alteration in the composition of gases in and around fresh produce by
respiration and transpiration when such commodities are sealed in plastic
films
• Disadvantage: safety of products, limited control of the gases around and
within the fruits and vegetables achieved by this technology
• MA Tech:
Film permeability
Gas flushing – N2, gas mixture (CO2, O2, N2), vacuuming
Chemical absorbents – for 02, CO2, ethylene, H2O (ascorbic acid, alumina)
Humidity effect
• use of low O2 conc. (1−5%) & high CO2 conc (5−10%) in combination with
storage with refrigeration proposed
Freezing of fruits
• for long-term preservation (months or even years) e.g., cherries,
strawberries, blueberries
• stops microbial growth and respiration; it slows down chemical rxns;
most widely used temp: -18ºC to -30º
• Fruits: frozen fresh with or w/o sugar, sweeteners
• Advantages: taste and color retention
• Disadvantage: texture quality decrease (cell membrane rupture)
• Blanching recommended prior
Blanching
• a kind of pasteurization applied to fruits (limited) and vegetables to
inactivate natural enzymes; commonly practiced when food is to be
frozen, canned, dried
• Water blanching, syrup blanching
• Hot water and steam - most commonly used heating media
• Vegetative cells as well as viruses are destroyed at temperatures of
60ºC to 80ºC
• Higher temperature is needed for killing thermophilic microorganisms
• Vegetative cells are killed in 10 min at 100ºC and many spores in 30
min at 100ºC
Canning
• a growing, competitive industry, especially the international export
portion
• goal is to destroy any microorganisms in the food and prevent
recontamination; Heat as the most common agent used; Removal of
oxygen can be used in conjunction with other methods to prevent the
growth of aerobes
• Advantages: convenience, availability, variety of forms
• Disadvantage: cooking depletes water soluble Vit content
• Canning liquids-own juice, light syrup, heavy syrup
Preservatives in Fruit spreads
• Addition of sugar or alternative sweeteners in varied amounts; form
of the fruit juice varies
• Sugar benefits
prevents microbial growth (osmotically pulls water fr. the cells)
Helps maintain firmness of fruits
Contributes to flavor
Gelling agent
Anti-enzymatic preservatives
• help in blocking the enzymatic processes that lead to ripening of
fruits after harvest, e.g., citric acid and erythrobic acid used for
preventing the enzymatic browning of cut fruit and potato pieces

Anti-microbials
• degradation in fruits is prevented by sulfur dioxide
• sorbates and benzoates /control fungal growth in salads, jams and
pickles.
Drying
• Old method; sun-drying applicable for fruits, else oven or food-
dehydrator
• MC lowering from 85% to <30%
• Dehydro-freezing: In case of some fruits and vegetables about 50% of
the moisture is removed by dehydration prior to freezing
• Advantages: off-season availability, easy transport, concentrated
flavor and nutrients, lowers microbial spoilage
• Disadvantages: loss of volatile substances, cellulose softening
Decontamination
• Physical treatments for fresh-cut fruit and vegetables are being considered
as alternatives to chemical preservation techniques.
• use of chlorine dioxide and the cyclic exposure to ozone gas outstand
among the alternative treatments, however, impractical gas treatment
• Low-dose gamma irradiation - reduce bacterial, parasitic, and
protozoan pathogens in raw foods e.g., fresh-cut carrots, lettuce
• Ultraviolet light (UV) – cheap and easy-to use; could compromise quality
due to the consequent damage of the treated tissues
• Pulsed light (PL) as an alternative technology for the decontamination
of food surfaces and food packages; heating control issue