Fruit and vegetable dried food product
AssigneeNabisco Brands, Inc.
InventorKarim Nafisi-Movaghar
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Fruits and vegetables can be vacuum dried to produce a crispy but yet tender puffed food products having a color and appearance of the original fruit or vegetable prior to processing. Enzymatic browning and reducing sugar browning is counteracted by the treatment of the fruit or vegetable in an infusion solution that contains at least one reducing acid and a proton donor to counteract enzymatic browning and a disaccharide to counteract reducing sugar browning. In addition the infusion solution can contain chelating agents and antimicrobial agents. In addition the fruit or vegetable can undergo a freeze-thaw tenderizing process which will also enhance the puffing of the fruit or vegetable. The product is a puffed and crisp but yet has a smooth texture when being consumed.
Claims33
A process for producing dried fruit and vegetable products which are not susceptible to browning and which retain their natural color and have a puffed consistency comprising reducing the fruit or vegetable to pieces of a desired size;
- contacting said fruit or vegetable pieces with an aqueous infusion solution containing (a) a reducing acid selected from the group consisting of erythorbic acid, ascorbic acid and sulfurous acid;
- (b) a proton donor substance which is an acid, (c) a disaccharide, and (d) a chelating agent for a period of time to infuse said solution into said fruits or vegetables and to remove at least some of the monosaccharide content therefrom and then drying said fruits or vegetables at a reduced pressure and an elevated temperature to a water content of less than about 10 percent by weight and to allow the other components of the infusion solution to remain within the dried fruits or vegetables, decreasing the temperature of said pieces to less than 40.degree. C. and then releasing the pressure to produce a fruit or vegetable piece which retains its natural color and has a tender puffed consistency.
A process for producing dried fruit and vegetable products as in claim i wherein prior to drying at a reduced pressure said fruits or vegetables are air dried to a water content of less than about 40 percent by weight.
A process for producing dried fruit and vegetable products which are not susceptible to browning and which have a puffed consistency comprising:
- (a) reducing the fruit or vegetable to pieces of a desired size;
- (b) placing said pieces of fruits or vegetables in an aqueous infusion solution containing (1) at least one reducing acid selected from the group consisting of erythrobic acid, ascorbic acid and sulfurous acid, (2) at least one donor substance which is an acid, and (3) at least one non-reducing disaccharide for a period of time to infuse said solution into said fruits or vegetables and to remove at least some of the monosaccharide content therefrom;
- and
- (c) drying said fruits or vegetables at atmospheric pressure for a first period of time and at a reduced pressure and an elevated temperature for a second period of time to a moisture content of less than about 10 percent by weight but with the components of the infusion solution remaining therein, reducing the temperature to less than about 40.degree. C., and releasing the pressure.
A process for producing dried fruit and vegetable products which are not susceptible to browning and which have a tender puffed consistency comprising contacting said fruit or vegetable products with an aqueous infusion solution containing (a) a reducing acid selected from the group consisting of erythrobic acid, ascorbic acid and sulfurous acid, (b) a proton donor acid, (c) a disaccharide, (d) a chelating agent, and (e) an antimicrobial agent for a period of time to infuse said solution into said fruits or vegetables and to remove at least some of the monosaccharide content therefrom, placing said fruits or vegetables on a tray, and then drying said fruits and vegetables at an elevated temperature and at a reduced pressure until the difference in the temperature of said fruit or vegetable and said tray is less than about 10.degree. C., decreasing the temperature of said fruits or vegetables to less than 40.degree. C., and releasing said reduced pressure.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.