Fruits and vegetables are important sources of vitamins, minerals and dietary fibre. The consumption of fruits and vegetables has increased significantly as consumers have become more health-conscious. Whilst most fruit and vegetables should be eaten fresh, processed fruit and vegetables can be acceptable alternatives. Fruit and vegetables have many similarities with respect to their compositions, methods of cultivation and harvesting, storage properties and processing. Processing (canning, Dehydration & Preservation) increases the shelf life of fruits and vegetables.
Fruits and vegetables are processed into a variety of products such as juices and concentrates, pulp, canned and dehydrated products, jams and jellies, pickles and chutneys etc. The extent of processing of fruits and vegetables varies from one country to another. The technology for preservation also varies with type of products and targeted market. Owing to the perishable nature of the fresh produce, international trade in vegetables is mostly confined to the processed forms.
India is the second largest producer of fruits & vegetables in the world with an annual production of million tonnes. It accounts for about 15 per cent of the world’s production of vegetables. Due to the short shelf life of these crops, as much as 30-35% of fruits and vegetables perish during harvest, storage, grading, transport, packaging and distribution. Hence, there is a need for processing technology of fruits and vegetables to cater the domestic demand.
The major contents of the book are procedures for fruit and vegetable preservation, chemical preservation of foods, food preservation by fermentation, preservation by drying, canning fruits, syrups and brines for canning, fruit beverages, fermented beverages, jams, jellies and marmalades, tomato products, chutneys, sauces and pickles, vegetables preparation for processing, vegetable juices, sauces and soups, vegetable dehydration, freezing of vegetables etc. The book also contains photographs of Production Line & Machinery.
It will be a standard reference book for professionals, entrepreneurs, food technologists, those studying and researching in this important area and others interested in the field of fruits and vegetables processing.
