Processing fresh fruit such as peaches or apricots - by deep freezing then partial thawing before stoning and peeling

摘要

Process for treating fresh fruit, particularly tender stone fruit such as peaches and apricots, comprises first freezing them after harvesting and then, as they are required for processing, partially thawing them. They are immediately destoned while still cold, then peeled and subjected to conventional further processing for making fruits-in-syrups, stewed fruits, jams, etc. Pref the partial thawing is carried out in a microwave oven in which the atmos is kept cold by spraying a cryogenic liq such as CO2, liq nitrogen or act, or freon. Esp thawing is carried out to a temp of -6 to 0 deg C. The process facilitates destoring and peeling and improves the yield in these stages, while maintaining all the flavour (i.e. no juice is lost). The frozens stored fruit can be processed throughout the year, so the processing equipment is not used just during the harvest season. Pref the harvested fruit is frozen and stored at -25 deg C. The pref microwave ovens operate at high frequency e.g. 2450 MHZ, and are pref operated under a high electrostatic potential to improve utilisation of the cryogenic liq.