Tropical Fruit Technology

Abstract

Publisher Summary With the expansion of the food industries at the beginning of the 20th century, the science of food technology was established for study of the preservation of edible agricultural products in their natural state, and for the study of cheap and practical methods of processing foodstuffs, to preserve them and improve their quality. Studies in food technology cover various fields, characterized either by the nature of the raw materials (for example, cereals, fruits, meats) or by the common processes of manufacturing and the resulting similarities in the finished products (for example, bread baking, canning, bottling of soft drinks). As a part of food technology this chapter studies fruits, particularly the problems presented by tropical fruits. This chapter starts with a study of the significance of fruits, followed by morphology and anatomy of fruits, physical properties of fruits, and some chemical properties of fruits such as: color, aroma, and flavor; vitamins and mineral salts; carbohydrates, proteins, fats, and caloric value; enzymes and other substances. The technical problems discussed in this chapter are: preservation of fresh fruits and freezing; separation of the inedible part (skin); obtaining juices, pulps, and concentrates; dehydrated products, sweet products, fermentation products—alcoholic and acetic; age of elaborated products; and preservation by irradiation.