Fruits are important constituent of human diet, and besides having nutritional value also provide many good phytochemicals contributing to better health. Due to perishable nature of fruits and lack of sufficient storage facility including cold chain approx. 40% of fresh fruits are lost after harvest in India. The current technology deals with the process development for the fruits namely mango, banana, papaya, pineapple, and apple to prepare intermediate moisture fruit cubes to extend their shelf life, reduce post-harvest losses, ensure their throughout availability, and also promote export. The water activity of the processed product reduced significantly, which prevented the bacterial growth and spoilage. The final processed product could be stored up to 6 months at ambient (room) temperature, whereas, the unprocessed freshly cut samples spoiled within 2 days. The byproduct in the process is utilized for the preparation of fruit jam. The processing ensured the microbiological safety, nutritionally adequacy, and organoleptic acceptability. The developed technology thus will ensure benefits to all the stakeholders including farmers, food industry, and consumers.

ADDITIONAL COMMERCIAL ADVANTAGES

• The procedure can be scaled up as per requirement from small to industrial scale
• Lesser energy consumption
• Minimum waste generation, as the byproduct is utilized
• Round the year operation, as the same manufacturing plant can be used for different seasonal fruits

APPLICATIONS

• A ready-to-eat, convenient, packed product can be made available to the consumer throughout the year irrespective of availability of the seasonal fruit
• The product can be used as nutritional supplement in breakfast cereals
• By product like fruit jam can be developed from processed leftover material

Fruits are important constituent of human diet, and besides having nutritional value also provide many good phytochemicals contributing to better health. Due to perishable nature of fruits and lack of sufficient storage facility including cold chain approx 40% of fresh fruits are lost after harvest in India. The current technology deals with the process development for the fruits namely mango, banana, papaya, pineapple, and apple to prepare intermediate moisture fruit cubes to extend their shelf life, reduce post-harvest losses, ensure their throughout availability, and also promote export. The water activity of the processed product reduced significantly, which prevented the bacterial growth and spoilage. The final processed product could be stored up to 6 months at ambient (room) temperature, whereas, the unprocessed freshly cut samples spoiled within 2 days. The processing ensured the microbiological safety, nutritionally adequacy, and organoleptic acceptability. The developed technology thus will ensure benefits to all the stakeholders including farmers, food industry, and consumers.

PROCESS DESCRIPTION

• Fruits are washed, peeled, and made in to cubes/slices of approx. 2 x 2 x 2 cm size
• Osmoblanching in optimized solution for inhibition of browning, accelerated osmotic dehydration and microbial decontamination
• Washing followed by controlled drying
• Packaging in suitable optimized bags/ jars

PRODUCT CHARACTERIZATION

• The microbial load is below detectable limit (< 20 colony forming units/gm)
• The product is sensorily acceptable for more than 6 months
• Nutritionally more enriched

APPLICATIONS

• Ready-to-eat convenient product
• Nutritional supplements for breakfast cereals
• Suitable as a blend with ice-creams, custards and jellies
• Fruit jam as a byproduct

ADDITIONAL COMMERCIAL ADVANTAGES

• The procedure can be scaled up as per requirement from small to industrial scale
• Lesser energy consumption
• Minimum waste generation
• Round the year operation, as the same manufacturing plant can be used for different seasonal fruits

REQUIREMENTS

A. Infrastructure

• A covered space of 25 x 20 sq ft., water supply, single phase electric supply
  

B. Equipment required

• Induction cooker, infrared dryer/ hot air oven and packaging machine

C. Statutory requirements

• The registration/ license as per FSSAI guidelines

D. Manpower requirement

• For 100 kg manual processing daily, two skilled workers are required