JPH03183435A - Production of cut fruit - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain the title fruit useful in the field of foods, having excellent texture and shelf stability by packing cut fruit and a liquid with a packaging material having oxygen barrier properties, sterilizing the fruit in the liquid under a specific condition and inactivating an enzyme. CONSTITUTION:Cleaned fruit which is optionally peeled and cut and a liquid containing one or more of an organic acid (e.g. citric acid), an organic acid salt (e.g. sodium citrate) and salt (0.01-5.0wt.% concentration in each substance) are packed with a packaging material (preferably 0-20cc/m<2> 24hrs atm calculated as 30 oxygen permeability) having oxygen barrier properties and the fruit is retained in the liquid under >=1,000kg/cm<2> pressure for >=3 minutes and sterilized and an enzyme is inactivated to give the objective fruit.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] (Industrial field of application) The present invention relates to a method for producing cut fruit,
More specifically, the present invention relates to a method for producing cut fruit that retains a "raw" texture and can be stored for a long period of time without boiling or sterilizing or sugaring.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, the cut fruits were wrapped in cling film and then sold. It is also known to produce cut fruit products by boiling or sterilizing the fruit after cutting it or by sterilizing it in sugar.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

In the case of the conventional fruit simply wrapped in cling film after cutting, the freshness decreases significantly after cutting, and even when stored in a refrigerator, the edible period is very short, 1 to 2 days. In addition, browning occurs in fruits due to enzymes in cells and oxygen in the air at a relatively early stage after processing when they can be consumed from a food hygiene perspective, which significantly reduces commercial value and is a major problem. Met. Furthermore, methods of sterilizing fruit after cutting by boiling or pickling in sugar extend the shelf life, but there is a problem in that the original freshness and texture of the fruit is lost.

Therefore, in order to improve the image of cut fruit products and expand consumption, the present inventors have developed a cant fruit that has a good shelf life and has the freshness and texture inherent to the fruit. As a result of deepening our recognition that this is an important issue in the industry and conducting extensive research, we have completed the present invention.

[Means to solve the problem]

The present invention is intended to solve the above-mentioned problems, and is capable of producing cut fruit that can be stored for a long period of time under refrigeration and has the fruit's original "raw jaggery texture, especially freshness and texture." Regarding the method.

Specifically, the present invention involves washing a fruit, peeling it if necessary, cutting it, packaging the fruit with a liquid using a packaging material having oxygen barrier properties, and packaging the fruit with a liquid after the packaging. ioo inside.

The present invention relates to a method for producing cut fruit, characterized in that the fruit is sterilized and enzymes in the fruit are deactivated by holding the fruit under a pressure of kg/crM or more for 3 minutes or more.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained in detail for each step.

Since there are many bacteria attached to the outer skin surface of the fruit,
Wash thoroughly, peel if necessary, and cut into shapes that are easy to eat.

The purpose of packaging using packaging materials with oxygen barrier properties is to prevent quality deterioration due to oxidation caused by oxygen passing through the packaging materials. and films can be used. As cup trays and films made of thermoplastic static resin, those having the following specifications can be used, but are not limited to those below.

(a) Cup/tray: Polypropylene (PP) or polystyrene (PS)/
Saponified ethylene/vinegar picopolymer/PP or PS, P
P or PS/vinylidene chloride/PP or PS (b) Film: KON/CPP, KEPT/CPP, KOP/CPP,
PET/Al/CPP, PET/Al/EVA, PET
/Al/PS (Of the abbreviations, K is polyvinylidene chloride coat, ON is oriented nylon, C is unstretched, PET is polyethylene terephthalate, OP is stretched polypropylene, P
E stands for polyethylene, AI stands for aluminum foil, EVA stands for ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer, PP stands for polypropylene, and PS stands for polystyrene. ) The oxygen permeability of the packaging material is O to 20cc/ when converted to 30μ.
rrf + 24 hrs -atm preferably 0-1
0cc/m2-24hrs-atm.

Packaging the material with liquid allows pressure to be evenly transmitted to the material within the package when processing at high pressure. Therefore, during packaging, it is necessary to reduce the amount of residual air as much as possible in order to reduce pressure loss due to air remaining in the packaging system. The amount of remaining air is not particularly limited, but is preferably 10% or less of the total volume within the packaging system.

Further, as the liquid to be packaged together with the fruit, it is preferable to use an aqueous solution of one or more selected from organic acids, organic acid salts, and common salts.

That is, since organic acids, organic acid salts, and common salts have antibacterial effects, they have the advantage of shortening the treatment time due to the synergistic effect with high-pressure treatment.

In addition to microbial deterioration, phenolic compounds caused by polyphenol oxidase in fruits are also a problem. - Browning is due to oxidation to quinone, but polyphenol oxidase activity is at pH 5~
It reaches a maximum around 7, but when the pH is lowered to 3 or less, the residual activity becomes almost O. That is, by using an organic acid in the liquid packaged with the fruit during high-pressure treatment, it becomes possible to effectively deactivate enzymes in the fruit.

As the organic acid, one or more types of ascorbic acid, citric acid, malic acid, oxalic acid, tartaric acid, benzoic acid, etc. can be used; is preferred.

Although the reason is not clear, it is conventionally known that various salts have the ability to suppress browning of fruits. That is,
By using an organic acid salt or common salt in the liquid packaged with the fruit during high-pressure treatment, it is possible to suppress browning of the fruit even if polyphenol oxidase activity remains after high-pressure treatment.

As the organic acid salt, one or more of the above-mentioned sodium salts, potassium salts, magnesium salts, calcium salts, etc. of the organic acids can be used; Sodium ascorbate or a mixture of sodium ascorbate and sodium citrate and/or sodium malate as a substrate is preferred.

The concentrations of organic acids, organic acid salts, and salts are not particularly limited as long as they do not lose the "raw" taste of the fruit and a sufficient effect can be obtained, but concentrations of 0.01% to 5% by weight each may be used. Aqueous solutions can be used.

1000 kg of fruit packed in liquid with liquid
By holding the fruit under a pressure of c+f1 or more for 3 minutes or more, it is possible to effectively sterilize the surface of the fruit and deactivate enzymes in the fruit. Sterilizes packaged items,
There is no need to worry about contamination during packaging, and it is also excellent in terms of food hygiene.

As the high-pressure treatment is performed under the above conditions, hydrophobic bonds and salt bonds within the object to be subjected to high-pressure treatment are severed, and hydrogen bonds tend to be generated. In other words, three types of non-covalent bonds in the high-pressure treated body are formed or destroyed by interaction with water, and proteins denature and lose their functions, deactivating enzymes in the fruit and causing further damage to the fruit. Any remaining germs can also be sterilized.

When treating at high pressure, if the pressure is less than 1000 kg/c or the holding time is less than 3 minutes, it is not possible to effectively sterilize the surface of the fruit and deactivate the enzymes in the fruit.

On the other hand, in high-pressure treatment, vitamins and aroma components made up of covalent bonds are not destroyed, so unlike sterilization by heating, heating odor does not occur and vitamins are not destroyed.

The liquid used when treating the package under high pressure is not particularly limited as long as it is liquid, but potable tap water is preferable in terms of hygiene and cost.

Furthermore, it is naturally possible to efficiently sterilize and destroy enzymes by heating the treatment liquid during high-pressure treatment.

〔Effect of the invention〕

The present invention effectively sterilizes fruits and deactivates enzymes in fruits by high-pressure treatment without heating, especially by using high pressure in combination with organic acids, organic acid salts, salt, etc. can also be shortened.

Almost no microorganisms are found in the cut fruit products produced by the method of the present invention, and they have excellent storage stability.

Moreover, even after long-term storage in refrigeration, the fruit retains its original "raw" texture, i.e., freshness, texture, color, etc., and its commercial value is extremely high. Also,
The method for producing cut fruit of the present invention is a safe method from a food hygiene standpoint, and has high industrial utility value.

EXAMPLES Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained in more detail with reference to Examples and Comparative Examples, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

Note that the concentrations of aqueous solutions of organic acids, organic acid salts, common salts, etc. are expressed in weight %.

〔Example〕

Example 1 After washing the apples, they were cut into six pieces lengthwise and the cores were removed.

6 apples after canting 2% ascorbic acid aqueous solution 20
Along with 0+y+f, KON/CPP pouch (width 130
mm, length 200 mm).

The apples thus packaged were filled into a high-pressure device for food as shown in FIG. 1, and subjected to high-pressure treatment at 4,000 atmospheres for 10 minutes.

Example 2 A sweet summer mandarin orange was peeled to prepare peeled flesh. 15 pieces of peeled meat are 105mm wide, 180mm long, and 35mm deep.
Place it in an EVOH/PP deep drawing tray and fill the tray with 1%
After filling with ascorbic acid and 1% citric acid aqueous solution, it was sealed using KON/CPP film as a lid material.

The packaged sweet summer mandarin oranges were filled into a high-pressure device for food as shown in FIG. 1, and subjected to high-pressure treatment at 4,000 atmospheres for 10 minutes.

Comparative example 1 After washing the apples, they were cut into six pieces lengthwise and the cores were removed.

6 apples after cutting into 2% ascorbic acid aqueous solution 20
Along with 0+yl, KON/CPP pouch (width 130m
m, length 200 mm).

Comparative Example 2 A sweet summer mandarin orange was peeled to prepare peeled flesh. 15 pieces of peeled meat are 105mm wide, 180mm long, and 35mm deep.
Place it in an EVOH/PP deep drawing tray and fill the tray with 1%
After filling with ascorbic acid and 1% citric acid aqueous solution, it was sealed using KON/CPP film as a lid material.

20 each produced according to Example 1.2 and Comparative Example 1.2
Bags stored at 10°C for 10 and 20 days were tested for swelling of the packaging material, generation of off-odor, and sensory evaluation.

The results are shown in Table 1.

(Evaluation method) Out of 20 expanded two-sample packs of O packaging material, the evaluation was based on the number of packs that expanded due to generation of carbon dioxide gas inside the packaging.

Example: Number of packs/200 Off-odor occurrence: Out of 20 sample packs, the evaluation was based on the number of packs in which an off-odor occurred.

Example, number of pieces: 7200 Sensory evaluation: Freshness (freshness), texture, color, etc. when eaten were comprehensively evaluated from a taste and visual perspective.

(Margins below this page) As is clear from Table 1, the cut fruit products produced by the method of the present invention do not expand the packaging material even after long-term storage, and do not generate any off-odor caused by microorganisms. It maintained its original color and had an excellent texture.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 shows the overall structure of a high-pressure device for food used in the implementation of the present invention. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1...Processing chamber, 2...High pressure container, 3...Low pressure piston, 4...Top lid, 5...High pressure piston, 6...
Hydrostatic cylinder 7...Pressure generator.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. After washing the fruit and peeling it if necessary, cutting the fruit, packaging the fruit with a liquid using a packaging material having oxygen barrier properties, and placing the packaged fruit in the liquid. de1
A method for producing cut fruit, characterized by sterilizing the fruit and deactivating enzymes in the fruit by holding the fruit under a pressure of 000 kg/cm^2 or more for 3 minutes or more. 2. The liquid packaged with the fruit may contain organic acids, organic acid salts,
2. The method for producing cut fruit according to claim 1, wherein the aqueous solution is one or more selected from common salts. 3. The method for producing cut fruit according to claim 2, wherein the organic acid aqueous solution is an aqueous solution of one or more kinds selected from ascorbic acid, citric acid, and malic acid. 4. The method for producing cut fruit according to claim 2, wherein the organic acid salt aqueous solution is an aqueous solution of one or more selected from sodium ascorbate, sodium citrate, and sodium malate. 5. Oxygen permeability of packaging material is 0 to 20cc/m^2.2
The method for producing cut fruit according to claim 1, wherein the cutting time is 4 hrs.atm.