Hello my avid readers, I know you all are very fond of different kind of fruit and vegetables, and always keep a bunch of them in your refrigerator after buying them from market.
But do you know, those fruit and vegetable do not come directly to your nearby market, just after collecting it from farms.
There is a long yet interesting procedure behind it.
So, let’s begin to explore what and how it happen.
Introduction
Fruits and vegetables are the most perishable commodities, but they are essential components of human diets. Fruits and vegetables are seasonal, and during the glut time, prices plummet and production becomes unprofitable owing to distressed sales.
As a result, a rise in fruit and vegetable output will be of little use if the product is not adequately handled, processed, or consumed. Because the costs of preventing losses are always lower than the costs of production, processing has received more attention in recent years.
In India, the processing of fruits and vegetables is much unstructured. Fruit pulps and juice, fruit-based ready–to–serve beverages, canned fruits and vegetables, squashes, jams, pickles, chutneys, dehydrated veggies, and so on are all popular commercial goods.
More recently, the sector has taken up the manufacture of frozen pulps and vegetables, frozen dried fruits and vegetables, fruit juice concentrates, and vegetable curries in resealable pouches, canned mushroom, and mushroom products.
Preservation effects are complex in real-life conditions, involving physical, physicochemical, chemical, and biological processes, and these phenomena never act in isolation.
Fruit and vegetable processing (canning, drying, freezing, and making juices, jams, and jellies) extends their shelf life. Cleaning, cutting, and peeling the raw material are the first steps in the processing process, followed by cooking, canning, or freezing. The operation of plants is frequently seasonal.
Fruit and vegetable processing has the following goal:
The purpose of processing is to prevent microbial spoilage and natural plant cell physiological degeneration. Blanching, dehydrating, canning, freezing, fermenting and pickling, and irradiating are some of the procedures used.
Another goal of fruit and vegetable processing is to provide consumers with wholesome, safe, nutritious, and palatable food throughout the year.
What types of fruit processing are there?
Fruit can be processed in a variety of ways, including canning, drying, and juicing. Fruit preserves, canned fruit, and fruit juices are examples of processed fruit.
Fresh, raw fruit is often healthier than processed fruit. Fruit that has been washed, dried, and packaged is not normally considered processing.
Fruit and vegetable processing steps that are extremely beneficial:
Inspect the fruits and vegetables that arrive.
Workers should inspect fruits and vegetables for disease, mold, rotting, and other issues before they leave the farm. When bad crops are removed, the healthy crops are protected, but workers may overlook something.
To address this, staff at the processing factory should do a secondary inspection as new crops arrive, meticulously scrutinizing each piece for faults to eliminate the possibility of damaged products contaminating the rest.
Sanitize your equipment regularly.
Other equipment in a process plant, on the other hand, does not have antibacterial qualities. Bacteria and other hazardous pathogens are more likely to attach to these pieces of equipment, which can then spread to the fruits and vegetables being processed.
Maintaining this equipment clean and sanitized will help to prevent the spread of bacteria. Regardless of the metal's antibacterial qualities, cleaning stainless steel equipment is critical to maintaining a clean and sanitary environment.
Employees should be trained and educated.
To ensure that operations in fruit and vegetable processing factories operate properly, proper training is essential. All personnel should receive complete training and education on the various responsibilities within the facility before being permitted on the production floor.
If the facility is ever shorthanded, they should be able to handle more than just their duty.
Training and education should extend beyond the facility's physical work. Employees should receive extensive training in safety and sanitation protocols to ensure that they understand how to keep the workplace safe and clean.
Use hygienic procedures
Hygiene is an important aspect of sanitation in fruit and vegetable processing plants. To avoid the spread of bacteria and germs–especially those from outside the facility–employees must practice proper hygiene within the facility.
Some of the most important parts of hygiene are hand washing, wearing gloves, wearing shoe covers, and keeping the facility clean. Personal and facility-wide hygiene should be a top emphasis, so staff knows what to anticipate and how to follow the hygiene guidelines.
On the factory floor, use a face mask and hairnets.
Employees should utilize a variety of hygiene precautions, including gloves and shoe covers. Face masks and hairnets are also necessary for good sanitation in a facility.
To assist prevent the transmission of germs and contamination, all personnel should be compelled to wear face masks and hairnets. As an added safety measure, men with facial hair should wear hair nets to hide their beards.
Prepare a pest-control strategy.
Pests such as insects and rodents are a common problem in all food and beverage establishments. Pests bring disease and contaminants with them, posing major health dangers. You should have a pest management plan in place to avoid infestations.
Maintaining a clean facility and assuring that no food residues are left out where they can bring pests are all important parts of preventing pests. Employees should also ensure that fruits and vegetables are stored properly to avoid pest infestation.
Pest protection also includes ensuring that there are no gaps for pests to reach the facility and installing deterrents on the exterior.
I recommend my patient readers which include entrepreneurs, investors, and others to invest in the business of Fruit and Vegetable Processing and see your business growing with no sky limit.
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