Title of Invention

"A PROCESS FOR THE PREPARATION OF SWEET PRESERVES FROM FRUITS AND VEGETABLES"

Abstract

The present invention relates to a process for the preparation of sweet preserve from fruits and vegetables. Preservation by addition of sugar and application of heat is an important processing method in the case of fruits, which are utilized in very large quantities to make jams, jellies, marmalades and preserves. This method is simple, easy to adopt and hence, its universal popularity. New products have been prepared utilising readily-available spices, fruits and vegetables resulting in a range of confectionery items with high nutritive value and acceptability. Vegetables with crisp and fiber-less edible portions such as ash gourd, banana rind, cucumber and chow-chow can be utilized for making the value-added products. Fruit juices or juice concentrates from fruits such as apple, orange, sweet lime, mango, banana, guava, pineapple etc can be effectively utilised, in the present method fresh-ginger flavoured preserve-like and candy-like products can be made utilizing fibrous varieties of ginger also.

Full Text

The present invention relates to a process for the preparation of sweet preserves from fruits and vegetables. Preservation by addition of sugar and application of heat is an important processing method in the case of fruits, which are utilized in very large quantities to make jams, jellies, marmalades and preserves. This method is simple, easy to adopt and hence, its universal popularity. A preserve is made from properly matured fruit, by cooking it whole or in the form of large pieces in heavy sugar syrup, till it becomes tender and transparent. In its preparation, not less than 45 kg of the fruit are used for every 55 kg of sugar and cooking is continued till concentration of at least 68% of soluble solids is reached. Good preserve should retain the form of the original fruit and should consist of the whole or cut fruit in clear syrup of high sugar concentration. The fruit should not be caramelized by overcooking and should retain most of the color and flavor of the fresh fruit. Freshly made preserves are wholesome and have an attractive appearance. When they are stored for a long period, their natural color and flavor deteriorates on account of oxidative changes. They should, therefore, be made only during the season, unless there are adequate facilities to keep the fruits so that they are available in the offseasons also. Preserves made from frozen fruits are generally superior in color and flavor to those made from fresh fruits stored at room temperature. The fruit or vegetable to be preserved first undergoes preliminary processing where it is peeled, trimmed, sliced, cored, pricked and hardened [if necessary]. It is then cooked in syrup. During cooking care has to be taken to ensure that the fruit is kept covered with the syrup during cooking as well as after cooking. Otherwise, it will dry up affecting the quality of the final product. After cooking the preserve, if to be stored in bulk, is cooled quickly and then placed in cans or bottles. Ginger is highly esteemed throughout Asia for its therapeutic effects as well as for its flavor. The Chinese have used ginger since at least the sixth century BC and is Asia's most treasured spice. Ginger is the rhizome of a perennial herbaceous plant native to South Asia and is cultivated in India, Africa, Jamaica, and Indonesia. The fresh form is knobby and branched, juicy and tan colored and available as whole [unpeeled], sliced, chopped, crushed or grated. There are many varieties of ginger, Cochin ginger, Chinese ginger, Jamaican ginger and African ginger, being the popular types. Ginger is available in fresh, dried, black or white forms. Black ginger is made by scalding or steaming the rhizome and then drying. White ginger is made by peeling the outer layers and then drying. Preserved ginger is made from young fresh rhizomes that are peeled and sliced and then cooked in heavy syrup. Crystallized ginger is preserved ginger, dried and rolled in sugar. Ginger flavor and color vary with its origin and harvesting, storage and processing conditions. Fresh ginger has a juicy, spicy, refreshing and slightly sweet lemon-like aroma along with strong bite. It is more aromatic than dried ginger. Drying condition changes ginger flavor and pungency. Ginger bite or pungency is due to non-volatiles viz., gingerol, zingerone, shogaol and paradol. Fresh ginger is most pungent because of high levels of gingerol. The high content of magnesium, calcium and phosphorus in ginger makes it a useful candidate for muscle spasms, hypertension, depression, muscle weakness, convulsions, nausea, and gastro-intestinal disorders. Its high content of antioxidant makes it a free radical scavenger. It has anti-mutagenic and anti-inflammatory properties. Ginger can add flavor, round off flavor and enhance particular flavors. In Asia, it is eaten fresh, dried, pickled, preserved in syrup and crystallized. Europeans and North Americans traditionally prefer the dried, crystallized or preserved form of ginger as a table seasoning in cakes, puddings, cookies, pies, fish soups, etc. Pepper [ Piper nigrum ] is one of the most important and universally liked spices. Black pepper is obtained fully matured reen pepper. Green pepper beries of a lesser maturity are used for the preparation of products such as green pepper in brine, canned green pepper, dehydrated green pepper and freez-dried green pepper. The tradition method of preparing fresh ginger preserve and candy is outlined further. Fresh ginger rhizomes are cleaned, scraped and cut into pieces of desired size and shape. The pieces are cooked in steam and then soaked in sugar sryup of 30 °Brix for 6 hrs. The syrup is drained off and the strength raised by 10 °Brix by boiling and adding back to the cubes and allowed equilibrating for 24 hrs. The process of draining of the syrup, raising the syrup strength by 10 °Brix every time and adding back to the cubes are repeated every day till the syrup strength reaches 60 °Brix. At this stage, citric acid is added to the syrup to prevent crystallization of sugar and the process of raising the syrup strength is continued till it reaches 75 "Brix. The ginger preserve so obtained is heated to 60°C and the free syrup is drained off. The cubes are coated with icing sugar to get the "Ginger Candy". The pineapple [ Ananas comosus! Ananas sativus ] is considered as one of the most popular tropical fruits. Pineapple belongs to the order Farmosae and family Bromileaceae. Pineapple cultivars are characterised on the basis of flavor, color, fruit shape and spint characters of leaves. The modern pineapple has been classified according to their characteristics into Spanish, Queen, Cayenne, Abacani and Maipure group. The major leading countries in the pineapple production are Hawaii, Philippines, Malaysia, Australia, Puerto Rico, Kenya and so on. Pineapple is largely exported from Brazil, Taiwan, Malaysia and the Ivory Coast while the largest importers are Japan, Argentina and countries of Western Europe. Pineapple fruit is a good source of vitamin A and B and is rich in vitamin C and calcium. It also contains phosphorus and iron. It contains an enzyme, bromeline and pineapple leaf is a good source of chlorophyll. The 3-methyl propionate ester comprises a significant fraction of the pineapple volatile components and has been adapted for use in pineapple flavors. Ash gourd [ Benincasa lispeda Thumb Cogn ] believed to have originated in Java and Japan, is widely cultivated in India and several tropical countries. Ash gourd or white gourd is known as Petha Kaddu. It is grown widely in India and mainly in the North, and is used in the preparation of Petha. Ash gourd, which is an annual hispid, climbing, herbaceous plant classified as: Round and Oblong types. The fruits have good storage quality and can be transported over long distance. Ash gourd is an important vegetable and considerable quantities are utilized by the confectioners, who use it to prepare Petha. Ash gourd can be stored longer than any other curcubits. Bruises and cuts on mature fruit are capable of healing by suberization. When stored at 13-15°C and 70-75% RH, fruits maintain good quality for over 6 months. Ash gourd is also valued in the Ayurvedic system of medicine and is used in preparations such as Kushmanda Rasayana. Banana [ Musa paradisieca ] is one of the major fruits which is popular throughout the world. India is one of the major producers of banana with a production of the order of 168,00,000 tonnes per annum, accounting for 37% of total fruit production. Banana is valued both as a fruit and vegetable. After the harvest of banana bunches, the inner stem known as 'rind' is available in large quantities. The banana rind finds use to a limited extent as a vegetable. Chow-chow [Sechium aedule ] is a popular vegetable with a crisp and juicy flesh. It is also abundantly available in many places. Cucumber [ Cucumis sativus ] is a popular vegetable with a crisp and juicy flesh. It is used both for salad and preparation of culinary dishes. Ginger preserve and candy are traditionally produced in Australia, Hongkong, China and India. Significant steps are selection of raw material, brining and storage, syrupping, and finally coating for the crystallized product ( 1..Leverington, R.E, Ginger technology, Food Technology in Australia, August 1975, 309-312. 2). Govindarajan V.S., Ginger- Chemistry, Technology and quality evaluation, Part 1. CRC Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition 1982, Vol.17, Issue 1, 42-46. 3). Giridharilal, Siddappa G.S and Tandon G.L Preservation of fruits and vegetables, 1998, ICAR, New Delhi, 209-210.) Traditionally, ginger preserve and ginger candy are popular items. In order to make ginger preserve / candy of good texture, it is necessary to use tender ginger from a fiber-less variety as the starting material. However, most of the ginger cultivars available in India are fibrous in nature and as such they do not give products of good texture. In order to overcome this problem a new approach has been explored. The present patent pertains to a new approach wherein selected vegetables such as ash gourd, banana rind, chow-chow and cucumber are subjected to a process of deodorisation, removal of tannins / astringency, prevention of browning and hardening / softening of texture. The prepared vegetable is used as the base material for making preserves and candies using debittered clarified ginger extract, fresh green pepper extract, and various fruit juices. Reference may be made to US Patent [ US 5364653, 1994 ] pertains to the method of preparation of fruit and nut - containing confectionery candy wherein fruit juice concentrates / powders are used along with a sweet flavored or a fruit flavored compound to form a base mixture to which 15 to 25 parts by weight of chopped or small whole nuts are admixed. The resultant final mixture is formed into pre-determined volumetric shapes by and or in a mould, chilled to set the final product, removed from the chiller and the final product, then packaged. The present patent has an objective and approach different from the above patent. The main objective of the present invention is to provide "a process for the preparation of sweet preserves from fruits and vegetables ". Accordingly, the present invention provides a process for the preparation of sweet preserves from fruits and vegetables which comprises; cleaning and cutting the vegetables and fruits selected from banana rind, pineapple, cucumber, ash gourd and chow chow in small chunks and dipping in the water at 40-60 °C for a period of up to 30 minutes, draining out excess water, soaking in 0.5 % calcium hydroxide solution for 10 hrs, transferring the above chunks into sugar syrup containing fruit juice obtained by pressing and/or enzymatic clarification or concentrated juice of fruits as herein described, sugar, water, Invert sugar, lime juice/lemon juice or their concentrates, ginger extract and fresh green pepper extract to obtain vegetable or fruit preserve. In an embodiment of the present invention the fruit juices obtained by pressing and/or enzymatic clarification or concentrated juices obtained from fruits, preferably pineapple, sweet lime (mosambi),orange, apple, mango, guava, and banana can be used for syrup making by adding the juices or juice concentrates (10-50 parts),water (30-40 parts),sugar (0-65 parts),invert sugar (0-20 parts),lime juice/lemon juice or their concentrates (0-15 parts),ginger extract (0-50 parts) and fresh green pepper extract(0-50 parts) to prepare syrups of 40-60 OBrix and ph, 3 .0 to 6.0 In an another embodiment of the present invention the preserves is used for making glazed/chocolate enrobed products. The process consists of first selecting suitable vegetables having crisp and fiber-less edible portion such as ash gourd, banana rind, cucumber and chow-chow. The vegetables are cleaned, peeled, and edible portion cut into pieces of suitable size and shape. The pieces are subjected to selective treatments such as [a] deodorisation [b] removal of tannins astringent principles [c] hardening / softening of texture and prevention of browning, to obtain the base material for making preserve-like and candy-like products. Fresh ginger is thoroughly cleaned and peeled and subjected to a physical pressing to press out the liquid containing bitter and brown constituents, which is discarded. The pulp with reduced bitterness and brown color is utilised to prepare aqueous flavor extractive. Directly aqueous extract of fresh ginger is not suitable for use in preserve-making as the syrup becomes very hazy, whereas clear syrup is preferred for preserve making. In order to improve the clarity of the ginger extract it is subjected to controlled heat treatment and centrifugation. The clarified ginger extract, along with water, cane sugar and invert sugar are used for preparing the syrup. The deodorised vegetable pieces with suitable texture are added to the syrup and step-wise increase of sugar concentration is carried out by open-corking or vacuum methods, with intermittent equilibration at ambient conditions to prepare a preserve-like product. The shelf-stable preserve is used for candy-making after draining out the free syrup, and giving a coating of icing sugar or boora sugar. During the preserve making step, various fruit juices or juice concentrates can be added singly or in combination at suitable levels to prepare the fruit-flavoured preserves, and therefrom the candies. Novelty 1. Vegetables such as ash gourd, banana rind, cucumber and chow-chow, which are crisp and free from fiber, or very low in fiber content, are subjected to selected treatments viz., deodorisation, astringency/tannin removal, prevention of browning and texture hardening/softening, to obtain nearly bland base materials of suitable texture for making preserve-like and candy-like products. 2. Fresh ginger is subjected to a physical pressing under controlled conditions to obtain a pulp of reduced bitterness and reduced brown color, which is used for making an aqueous flavor extractive. The clarity of the flavor extractive is improved by controlled heat treatment and centrifugation. 3. Fruit juices, fruit juice concentrates, and clarified ginger extract singly or in combination along with suitably prepared vegetables are employed to prepare preserve- like and candy-like products. 4. Fresh green pepper extract flavoured preserve and candy has been reported for the first time. 5. The process time is low, and high throughput of the products can be achieved, during production. The following examples are given by way of illustration of the present invention and therefore should not be construed to limit the scope of the present invention Example 1 Mature fresh ash-gourd was purchased from the local market. It was washed well, wiped and cut open. The seed and the adhering spongy pith were removed. The outer skin was peeled with a knife and the succulent pith was cut into chunks of size of about 1.5cm x 1 cm x 3 cm. The cut pieces [200 g] were charged into a rotary flask along with 400 ml water at 60°C and subjected to a vaccum of 24" for 30 minutes after which the flask was disconnected and the water drained out. This process of addition of hot water and application of vacuum was repeated twice. The de-odorised pieces were kept soaked in . 0.5% calcium hydroxide solution for 10 hrs, drained, washed and used for preserve making as described later. Fresh ginger procured from the local market was kept soaked in water for one hour followed by thorough washing. The ginger was kept soaked in 0.1% KMn04 solution for 15 min and again washed thoroughly with water and rinsed with boiled cooled water. The surface skin was removed using a stainless steel knife. The peeled ginger was washed well with boiled and cooled water and cut into small cubical chunks [300 g]. The chunks were taken in a sterilized cloth bag and subjected to a mechanical pressure of 8-10 tonnes for a period of 15 min, using a hand operated press to press out the free fluid from ginger pieces. The pressure was released and the pressed pieces mixed with 100 ml water and the process of pressing out the free fluid was repeated. The pressed pieces were used for juice extraction as described below. The pressed pieces were mixed with 400 ml water and blended in a laboratory grinder to a fine paste. The paste was squeezed manually to get 500 ml extract which was allowed to settle, decanted and heated to 80°C followed by cooling to RT and centrifugation at 3000 rpm for 15 min. The fairly clear extract was used in syrup making. Ginger flavoured syrup [300 g] was prepared using 140 g cane sugar, 15 g com syrup, 100 ml water and 50 ml clarified ginger extract. This syrup [250 g] at pH 5.0 was added to 100 g deodorised texturised ash gourd pieces prepared as described earlier and the mix was allowed to equilibrate under ambient conditions for 4 hrs. After this, the mix was transferred to a rotary evaporator and subjected to concentration under agitation and reduced pressure so that the temperature was kept below 60°C, till a brix of 65° was reached. The mix was again allowed to equilibrate under ambient conditions for 4 hrs and the process of vacuum concentration repeated to take the brix-to 70°. The ginger-flavoured preserve-like product [ 200 g ] so obtained was cooled and packed into a glass jar, for the preparation of candy, the above preserve [100 g] was transferred to a ss vessel and heated to 90° and the free syrup drained out. The syrup-free pieces were coated with candied sugar to get fresh ginger flavoured candy-like product [ 60 g ]. Example 2 Fresh and tender banana rind was procured from the local market. This was cleaned and trimmed of extraneous matter. The rind was cut into small pieces about 1 cm x 1 cm x 2 cm, washed with boiled and cooled water and kept immersed in water containing 500 ppm potassium meta bi sulphite. The pieces were loaded into a glass column and washed by percolation with water till the effluent was free of SO2. The pieces were softened by holding in boiling water containing 0.2% citric acid for a period of 10 minutes. The tannin-free softened pieces were used for preserve making as described later. Fresh ginger flavoured clarified syrup of 50 °Brix sugar strength and 4.5 pH was prepared using fresh ginger as described under Example 1. The syrup [ 220 g ] was added prepared banana rind [80 g] and the mix was allowed to equilibrate for 2 hrs. After this, the mix was transferred to a rotary evaporator and subjected to concentration under agitation and reduced pressure so that the temperature was kept below 60°C, till a brix of 65° was reached. The mix was again allowed to equilibrate under ambient conditions for 4 hrs and the process of vacuum concentration repeated to take the brix to 70°. The ginger-flavoured preserve-like product [ 150 g ] so obtained was cooled and packed into a glass jar. For the preparation of candy, the above preserve was transferred to a stainless steel vessel and heated to 90° and the free syrup drained out. The syrup-free pieces were coated with candied sugar to get fresh ginger flavoured candy-like product [ 90 g ]. Example 3 Fully ripe fresh pineapple was purchased from the local market. The crown was removed and the fruit peeled with a knife. The fleshy portion along with the core was pulped and pressed manually to recover the pineapple juice. This was subjected to centrifugation at 3000 rpm for 15 min to get the clear juice. The juice [150 ml] was mixed with cane sugar [150 g] and dissolved by warming and filtered through sterile cloth. The above pineapple syrup [ 250 g ] was added to deodorised texturised banana rind pieces [100 g] prepared as described above. The mix was allowed to equilibrate under ambient conditions for 2 hrs and was then subjected to slow open concentration with stirring to reach 60 °Brix. The mix was again allowed to equilibrate at ambient conditions for 6 hrs and the process of open concentration repeated till the syrup strength reached 75 °Brix. The pineapple-flavoured preserve-like product [ 200 g ] so obtained was cooled and packed in a glass jar. For the preparation of candy, the above preserve [100 g ] was transferred to a ss vessel and heated to 90° and the free syrup drained out. The syrup-free pieces were coated with candied sugar to get fresh pineapple flavoured candy-like product [ 60 g ]. Example 4 Fresh chow-chow was procured from the local market. It was washed, wiped, peeled and cut into halves, deseeded and further cut into small bits of size about 1 cm x 1 cm x 2 cm. The cut pieces [200 g] were charged into a rotary flask along with 400 ml water at 60°C and subjected to a vacuum of 24" for 30 minutes after which the flask was disconnected and the water drained out. This process of addition of hot water and application of vacuum was repeated twice. The de-odorised pieces were soaked in. 0.5% calcium hydroxide solution for 10 hrs, drained, washed and used for preserve making, as described later. The above deodorised and hardened chow chow pieces [100 g] were added to pineapple syrup [ 250 g ] prepared as prescribed under Example 3. The mix was allowed to equilibrate under ambient conditions for 4 hrs. The syrup was drained out and subjected to concentration under vacuum as described in Example 1 to reach 60 °Brix. The mix was again allowed to equilibrate at ambient conditions for 6 hrs and the process of draining of the syrup and vacuum concentration repeated till the syrup strength reached 75 °Brix. The pineapple-flavoured preserve-like product [ 200 g ] so obtained was cooled and packed in a glass jar. Example 5 Fresh firm cucumber was procured from the market. It was washed, wiped, edges trimmed to remove bitterness if any, peeled, halved and the seed portion removed. The firm pith was further cut into bits of size 1 cm x 1 cm x 2 cm. The pieces were loaded into a glass column and soaked in water at 60°C and allowed a contact time of 1 hr and then the water was drained out. The steps of soaking in hot water giving contact time and draining was repeated 3 more times to almost remove the ucumber aroma from the pieces. The pieces were soaked in 0.5 % calcium hydroxide solution for 10 hrs washed and used for preserve-making, as described later. Fresh sweet lime fruits were procured from the market. The fruits were washed, wiped and cut into 8 pieces each. The skin was manually removed and the cut segments so obtained were passed through a screw-press to recover the juices. The juice was cloth-filtered, pH adjusted to 4.5, heated to 85°C and held for 15 min, cooled to room temperature and centrifuged at 3,000 rpm for 15 min to improve clarity. Syrup for making the preserve was prepared using 130 ml clarified sweet lime juice, 20 ml lime juice, 50 ml clarified ginger extract [ prepared as in Example 1 ], 140 g cane sugar, and 15 g corn syrup. This syrup at pH 5.0 was added to 125 g deodorised texturised cucumber pieces prepared as described earlier and the mix was allowed to equilibrate under ambient conditions for 4 hrs. After this, the mix was transferred to a rotary evaporator and subjected to concentration under agitation and reduced pressure so that the temperature was kept below 60°C, till a brix of 65° was reached. The mix was again allowed to equilibrate under ambient conditions for 4 hrs and the process of vacuum concentration repeated to take the brix to 70°. The sweet lime - lemon -ginger-flavoured preserve-like product [250 g] so obtained was cooled and packed into a glass jar.Advantages of this process are 1. New products have been prepared utilising readily-available spices, fruits and vegetables resulting in a range of confectionery items with high nutritive value and acceptability. 2. Vegetables with crisp and fiber-less edible portions such as ash gourd, banana rind, cucumber and chow-chow can be utilized for making the value-added products. 3. Fruit juices or juice concentrates from fruits such as apple, orange, sweet lime, mango, banana, guava, pineapple etc can be effectively utilised. 4. Low-grade sound fruits and minor fruits can also be effectively utilised. 5. In the traditional preparation of ginger preserve and candy only tender and fiber- less ginger can be made use of, whereas in the present method fresh-ginger flavoured preserve-like and candy-like products can be made utilising fibrous varieties of ginger also. 6. The preserve-like and candy-like products can be used directly as confectionery items, or for table use. These products can also be used in a variety of processed food products such as cakes, fruit-bread, ice-cream, fruit-salad, sweet preparations, for purposes of providing variety, product improvement, nutrition or decoration. 7. The process time for making preserve- and candy-like products is considerably less, being of the order of 1-2 days only, in comparison to, for example, the traditional ginger preserve and candy which can take 1 to 6 weeks time. 8. The process is amenable for sca!ing-up. 9. The preserves can be used for making glazed and chocolate enrobed products. claim: 1. A process for the preparation of sweet preserves from fruits and vegetables which comprises; cleaning and cutting the vegetables and fruits selected from banana rind, pineapple, cucumber, ash gourd and chow chow in small chunks and dipping in the water at 40-60 °C for a period of up to 30 minutes, draining out excess water, soaking in 0.5 % calcium hydroxide solution for 10 hrs, transferring the above chunks into sugar syrup containing fruit juice obtained by pressing and/or enzymatic clarification or concentrated juice of fruits as herein described, sugar, water, Invert sugar, lime juice/lemon juice or their concentrates, ginger extract and fresh green pepper extract to obtain vegetable or fruit preserve. 2. A process as claimed in claim 1 .wherein sugar syrup contains juices or juice concentrates (10-50 parts),water(30-40 parts), sugar(0-65 parts),invert sugar(0-20 parts),lime juice/lemon juice or their concentrates (0-15 parts),ginger extracts(0-50 parts) and fresh green pepper extract (0-50 parts) of 40-60 °Brix and pH . 3. A process as claimed in claim 1,wherein preserves is used for making glazed/chocolate enrobed products. 4. A process for the preparation of sweet preserves from fruits and vegetables substantially as herein described with reference to examples.

Documents:

303-DEL-2003-Abstract-(03-03-2009).pdf

303-del-2003-abstract.pdf

303-DEL-2003-Claims-(03-03-2009).pdf

303-del-2003-claims.pdf

303-DEL-2003-Correspondence-Others-(03-03-2009).pdf

303-del-2003-correspondence-others.pdf

303-del-2003-correspondence-po.pdf

303-DEL-2003-Description (Complete)-(03-03-2009).pdf

303-del-2003-description (complete).pdf

303-del-2003-form-1.pdf

303-del-2003-form-18.pdf

303-del-2003-form-2.pdf

303-DEL-2003-Form-3-(03-03-2009).pdf

303-del-2003-form-3.pdf