Patent Application
20060034980
The present invention relates to pasteurization, and more particularly to rapid low temperature pasteurization of fresh fruits without changes in color, texture and flavor to the fruit, and without the use of artificial preservatives to provide extended shelf-life.
Prepackaged fruits are a very popular item in grocery stores. The packaging of pre-sliced fresh fruit in sealed pasteurized packages which retain the freshness of the fruit is very attractive to consumers who wish to have fresh fruit flavor, color and texture without having to constantly purchase and slice fresh fruits. Several methods and techniques have been developed in attempts to provide consumers with prepackaged fresh tasting fruit, however, they fail to provide the texture and flavor of truly fresh fruit for a variety of reasons. The majority of the processes used fail due to the use of a high temperature for pasteurizing the fruit. High temperature pasteurization results in significant flavor, texture, and color change. Further, many of the processes fail to provide a truly fresh looking and tasting fruit due to the use of harsh chemical additives such as artificial preservatives and sugars that alter the taste, texture, and color of the fruit in order to obtain a longer shelf-life. The most common option available to consumers searching for prepackaged fruit is the option of purchasing either canned fruit or frozen fruit. The fruit in each of these packages is often highly processed and may contain a great deal of artificial additives that affect that color, taste and texture of the fruit, which is not attractive to consumers looking for the freshest and safest packaged fruit product.
Typically, a consumer who wishes to eat the freshest tasting fruit must purchase fresh fruit and then go through the process of prepare the fruit by cleaning it and slicing it for consumption. While the consumer receives the fresh fruit taste this way and can generally be confident that they are not ingesting any added chemical preservatives; it is time consuming to constantly shop and then prepare the fresh fruit for consumption. Alternatively, some prepackaged sliced fruit products can be found in stores. However, as these are typically fresh fruits which have simply been sliced at the store, the shelf-life of these produces is very limited, and no steps are taken to pasteurize the fruit which control enzymatic activity that decays the fruit, as well as prevents microbial growth that can cause rapid deterioration of the fruit and render it inedible. Other prepackaged sliced fruits are heavily processed with artificial preservatives, which presents an unattractive obstacle to health conscious consumers. Therefore, customers wishing for the taste and quality of fresh fruit, while desiring the convenience of prepackaged fruit do not have a good option for purchasing fruit.
Several attempts at pasteurizing fruit and prepackaging that fruit have been made. These attempts often use high temperature pasteurization which results in a loss of flavor and texture in the fruit. Losing flavor and texture in the fruit essentially negates the ability to claim fresh fruit taste as that is no longer the case with these prepackaged fruits. Other attempts have used preservatives and additives to maintain fruit in a prepackaged environment. The use of additives also changes the flavor of fruit and are considered by many consumers as unhealthy. The more advanced systems created to prepackage fresh fruit require cost prohibitive machinery for prepackaging the fruit, and require a great deal of time to produce the prepackaged fruit. The time required strips the fruit of its freshness, both in texture, color, and flavor.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,010,727 to Rosenthal discloses an actinic process for cold pasteurization of fresh foods and beverages. This process uses ultraviolet light and radiation to pasteurize fresh foods prior to storage. This process is not advantageous as it causes fruit to lose its flavor due to the ultraviolet radiation. The process disclosed in the patent claims to use an additional step that restores texture and flavor to the fruits. It would be far more advantageous to retain the original texture and flavor of the fruits when they were fresh than attempt to recreate that same flavor and texture by additional processing of the fruit. Further, the use of the ultraviolet lights is cost prohibitive and not available for the average food producer.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,961,569 to Kenyon, et al discloses an apparatus for continuous microwave sterilization of food in pouches, including fruit. However, as in other attempts to process and prepackage food, this system uses extremely high temperatures that require the use of a pressurized tunnel to prevent steam from the food from bursting the packages when heated. This high temperature takes away the flavor, color and moisture from the fruit and thus, is not a suitable solution for producing fresh tasting fruit in prepackaged containers. Further, the need for the pressurized tunnel and the overall system is again cost prohibitive and would not allow a small grower of fruits to be able to prepackage their fruits in a pasteurized manner with this method.
Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide a method for rapid low temperature pasteurization of fresh fruit to preserve the flavor, color and texture of the fruit.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a low cost method of preparing and packaging fresh fruit.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a method of preparing and packaging fresh fruit without the use of artificial chemical preservatives.
The above objectives are accomplished according to the present invention by providing a method for pasteurizing sliced fresh fruit that preserves the fresh color, flavor, and texture of the fruit without artificial preservatives. The method includes cutting whole fresh fruit into fruit slices for packaging. The fresh fruit slices are then treated with an antioxidant so that each slice of fruit is coated with the antioxidant. The fresh fruit slices are packed into a high gas barrier package that is microwave permeable. The package is then vacuum sealed to eliminate aerobically sustained contaminants. Once sealed, the fresh fruit slices are arranged in the package to provide a generally uniform package thickness.
Next, the package with the fresh fruit slices is microwaved to raise the temperature of the fresh fruit slices. The package is then bathed in a hot water bath to inhibit enzymatic activity and eliminated microbial contamination. Next, the package is bathed in a cold water bath to lower the temperature of the fruit and stop the pasteurization process. Finally, the package is stored at a temperature range of preferably between 28° F. to 38° F.
Alternatively, the fresh fruit slices may be microwaved prior to packaging in the package. In this embodiment, the fruit slices are packaged into the package after microwaving using a pressure stuffing system that displaces all air from the package with the fresh fruit slices and seals the package in an airtight manner with no air gaps in the package, as vacuum packaging a hot product is typically disastrous due to rapid boiling of any liquid.
Further, using the above method, a pasteurized fresh fruit packaged product can be produced that comprises fresh fruit sliced and treated with an antioxidant and a vacuum sealed plastic package maintaining a high gas barrier until broken. The sliced and treated fresh fruit are positioned within the package to provide a uniform thickness. The vacuum sealed plastic package containing the sliced and treated fresh fruit is subjected to microwaving, being submerged in a hot water bath, being submerged in a cold water bath, and finally, subjected to being stored at a temperature range of between 28° F. to 38° F. As a result, the sliced and treated fresh fruit is pasteurized and retained in a fresh condition within the package for an extended period of time without changes in color, texture and flavor to the fruit, and without the use of artificial preservatives.
The construction designed to carry out the invention will hereinafter be described, together with other features thereof. The invention will be more readily understood from a reading of the following specification and by reference to the accompanying drawings forming a part thereof, wherein an example of the invention is shown and wherein:
With reference to the drawings, the invention will now be described in more detail. Referring to
Moving to step 3 of
As shown in step 4 of
Referring now to
In step 6 of
Next, referring to step 7 of
Referring to step 8 in
Following bathing in the hot water bath, as shown in step 9 of
Finally, referring to step 10 of
Alternatively, Referring to
While a preferred embodiment of the invention has been described using specific terms, such description is for illustrative purposes only, and it is to be understood that changes and variations may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the following claims.
