Processing of Fruits and Vegetables

In a previous blog post, we wrote about the storage of fresh fruits and vegetables. But fruits and vegetables can be also stored in many other forms, such as canned, frozen, dried, or juiced. Modern lifestyle and diet, which prompted the human to adequately storage a variety of fruits and other plant organs, influenced the development and implementation of the many methods and procedures for the preservation of fruits and vegetables. Technological procedures of processing of fruit and vegetables can be classified into a few processing methods: Traditional processing methods - drying, concentrating, heating (cooking, baking, frying) cooling, use of additives - preservatives, acidification, fermentationImproved traditional methods of processing - the application of increased temperatures (sterilization, pasteurization), the application of low temperature (cooling, freezing), aseptic packaging, controlled atmosphere -CA, freeze-drying, microfiltration and membrane processes, packaging (MA and vacuum)Procedures that are investigating - high voltage pulse techniques, photodynamic inactivation, microwave processing - heating, high-pressure treatment, ionizing radiation, heating of electrical resistance effect, and inductionHeat treatment and sterilization One of the traditional methods of preserving the process of fruits and vegetables is a thermal treatment, which involves the use of heat, ie. increased temperatures. Heat treatment is carried out by methods of sterilization, pasteurization and blanching, thus hermetically sealed packaging is used (usually made of metal, glass or plastic). Fruits, vegetables and their products represent a significant segment of the human diet, as they create the preconditions of proper nutrition. From a global point of view fruits and vegetables are present in the human diet all over the world, but it is also interesting that the relatively large producers of fruits and vegetables are developing countries. Fruit and vegetable products It is a large number of products that can be produced from fruits and vegetables. In the table below you can see the list of products. Fruit productsVegetable productsfrozen fruitfrozen vegetablesjamvegetable juicefruit jelliesconcentrated vegetable juicepasteurized fruitpasteurized vegetablesfruit cheesesterilized vegetablesfrozen pulp of the fruitfrozen pulp of the fruit dried vegetablespasteurised mashmarinated vegetablescandied fruitsbiological canned vegetablesdried fruitvegetable saucefruit juiceother vegetable productsfruit juice powderfruit syruplow-calorie productscompotemarmalade Frozen, canned, or dried fruits and vegetables have a lot of benefits, such as longer shelf life, convenience, year-round availability, most vitamins are retained as they are generally processed and packaged within hours of being picked, easy storage, easy preparation, etc. To learn more about the processing of fruit, vegetables, and also cereals, check out the knowledge base in AGRIVI farm management system. Start using AGRIVI now.