Fruits and Vegetables

Lecture 20
Fruits and Vegetables

 FRUITS – are fleshy, juicy products of plants that are seed containing. When
ripe they are edible without cooking

 VEGETABLES - are plants or parts of plants such as roots, tubers, bulbs,

stems, leaves, fruits and flowers used raw or cooked, serve generlly with
entrée or in salads but as desserts
VEGETABLES
Introduction

 Vegetables, apart from providing nutrition, contribute to the appetizing

colour, texture and flavour to the food.
 Vegetables are classified into groups based on their growing season, or based
on the parts of plants consumed and shape or appearance.
 Root vegetables include carrot, radish, beetroot.
 Carrot is rich in carotene a precursor for Vitamin A.
 Beetroot (garden beet) is similar to sugar beet with a high content of sugar.
 Radish (mooli) in white or red colour has a pungent flavour.
 These vegetables are consumed as raw vegetables as salad, cooked or pickled
in vinegar.
 Fruit vegetables include tomato, bell pepper, okra, egg plant.

 Cole crops grow best in cool moist conditions. These vegetables are rich in calcium and Vitamin C. This group
includes cabbage,cauliflower,Brocooli etc.

 Tubers are rich in carbohydrates and can be stored for long periods. Potato, sweet potato, tapioca
(cassava),belong to this group.

 Bulbs are underground buds having fleshy leaves and include onion, garlic and leek which have a characteristic
pungent flavour.

 Curcurbits include cucumber, pumpkin, gourds such as bitter gourd, ribbed or ridged gourd, sponge gourd,
snake gourd, bottle gourd and white or ash gourd.

 Leafy vegetables or greens from many plants are part of Indian diet. These include spinach, spinach beet,
celery, curry leaves, fenugreek, lettuce and parsley.
Harvest

 Vegetables during their growth and maturation on the plants undergo changes
in their colour, texture and flavour day by day. Harvesting is timed so as to
capture the peak qualities in vegetables.
 Freshly harvested vegetables have the desired plumpness, succulence,
crispness
 After harvest, the vegetables lose their peak quality quickly depending on
post harvest practice of storing and further processing.
 For example, sweet corn loses its sweetness by about 25% in one day after
harvest, partly due to conversion of sugars into starch and partly due to
continued respiration wherein sugars are utilized for energy.
Harvesting

 Harvested vegetables lose water due to respiration and physical drying

resulting in loss of weight, wilting of leafy vegetables, loss of plumpness of
fleshy vegetables.
 Therefore, cooling of vegetables by cold water spray soon after their harvest
slows down the degradative changes in vegetables.
STORAGE OF VEGETABLES
 Most vegetables are consumed fresh. However, vegetables can be stored for prolonged periods
depending on their type.
 Root and tuber vegetables such as potatoes, carrots, celery, onions, cabbage and turnips can be
stored for months while leafy vegetables such as lettuce and spinach, and others such as beans, peas,
cauliflower, cucumbers and tomatoes can be stored for a few days only.
 Storage of vegetables brings about changes in their composition mainly due to storage temperature.
 Storage temperature is chosen depending on further processing requirements.
 Cold storage of vegetables at –1 to + 4 ° C with high humidity in the range of 80– 95%
 Deep freezing or frozen storage of vegetables is practised in the case of beans, peas, pepper, carrot
and edible mushrooms.
 Most of the nutrients and vitamins are preserved by deep freezing.
Vegetable salads

 The term includes uncooked, raw or green vegetables sometimes seasoned

with salad dressing.

 Salad is prepared by mixing sliced or diced carrots, onions, cabbage,

cauliflower, lettuce, spinach, parsley, celery, cucumber, beetroot and served
as appetizer or first course or as a separate course of meal.
Vegetable Products

 Dehydrated vegetables

 Canned vegetables

 Pickled vegetables

 Vegetable pastes and juices

Dehydrated Vegetables
 Dehydration reduces the moisture content of vegetables below the required level for the growth of
microorganisms and at the same time preserves the flavour, aroma and appearance.

 The dehydrated vegetable on the addition of water regains the original shape or appearance.

 Vegetables for dehydration are washed, peeled, cleaned and may be sliced or diced.

 Liquid or paste forms such as tomato or potato mash are dried in a spray or drum drier.

 Dehydration may be carried out by freeze-drying to yield high quality products as in the case of peas
and cauliflower used for the production of soup powders.

 Dehydrated vegetables are light, air and moisture sensitive and hence require careful packaging
Canned Vegetables

 Canning, which involves heat sterilization, is an important method of preservation of

vegetables.

 The freshly harvested vegetables are cleaned, trimmed, sorted, graded and blanched.

 Blanching inactivates the native enzymes and also removes undesirable flavour compounds
as in the case of cabbage and the air inside the plant tissues.

 Sterilization is carried out in autoclaves at different temperatures for different duration

depending on the type of vegetable.
Pickled Vegetables

 Spontaneous lactic acid fermentation of vegetables such as cabbage, cucumber and beans yields
pickled vegetables.

 Fermentation lowers the pH, inhibits the growth of spoilage microorganisms and simultaneously brings
about enzymatic softening of cells and tissues improving the digestibility and wholesomeness of the
vegetables.

 Salt is used as a preservative.

 Sauerkraut is pickled white cabbage heads obtained by lactic acid fermentation in the presence of
salt (1.5– 2.5%) at 18– 24 ° C for 3– 6 weeks.

 Lactic acid content in the final product is not less 6 g/ l with a final pH of 3.6. The sauerkraut may
be canned by filling the cans at 70 ° C, followed by sealing and sterilizing at 95– 100 ° C.
Pickled Vegetables

 Vinegar pickled vegetables are prepared by pouring preboiled and still hot vinegar (2.5%) onto
unblemished vegetables such as cucumbers, red table beets, onions, pepper or mixed
vegetables including carrots, cauliflower, onions, peas and mushrooms.
Vegetable, Pastes Juices and Powders

 Vegetable puree or paste is a finely dispersed slurry of the vegetable such as

tomato. After removing the skin and seeds the vegetable is passed through a
pulping machine.
 The juice is filtered or centrifuged and salt (0.25– 1%) is added.
 The juice is pasteurized for improving storage.
 Vegetable powders are produced by spray drying, vacuum drum drying or
freeze drying the vegetable juice
FRUITS CLASSIFICATION
 Berries – small, juicy fruits with thin skins (strawberries, blueberries,
cranberries, black berries, grapes)
 Drupes – have outer skin covering, a soft flesh fruit ( cherries, peaches, apricots,
plums)
 Pomes – have a central seed containing core surrounded by a thick layer of flesh
(apples, pears and pomes)
 Citrus Fruits – have thick outer rind. A thin membrane separates the flesh into
tiny segments (orange,tangerines, grapefruit, lemons)
 Melons – large, juicy fruits with thick skins and many seeds. They are in the gourd
family (cantaloupe, honeydew, watermelons)
 Tropical Fruits – are grown in warm countries and are somewhat exotic
(avocados, mangoes, bananas, figs, dates, papaya, pineapples)