EFFICIENCY OF PULSE-STEAM BLANCHING OF FRUITS IN JARS AND SPARE PASTEURIZATION MODES WHEN PRODUCING COMPOTE FROM PEARS FOR BABY FOOD
The work is devoted to research on improving the technology for the production of compote from pears for baby food using new technological methods - pulse-steam blanching of fruit in jars with steam and accelerated thermal pasteurization. The paper gives an assessment of the process of thermal sterilization of canned products and indicates the main directions for improving this process. It was found that the most perfect of them is to increase the temperature level of products before pasteurization using a variety of technological methods based on thermal and physical effects, and at the same time, an increase in the temperature level of the product in banks before pasteurization has a positive effect on the thermophysical and microbiological aspects of the pasteurization process. A new method for preliminary preparation of fruits is presented, based on the fact that fruits laid in a jar are heated for a certain time (60-120 s) by cyclic supply of water vapor with a temperature of 105-1100С directly to the jars. The steam treatment time depends on the volume of the can used, and the steam is supplied to the banks cyclically, with a cycle duration of 3-5 s. It was revealed that the use of pulsed heating of fruits with water vapor promotes more uniform heating of fruits, which are characterized by a certain internal resistance to heat transfer, and prevents overheating of the surface layers. At the same time, the continuity of the process of thermal exposure to fruits with water vapor is ensured. It is established that the temperature of the product in the bank after sealing when applying this technological technique reaches up to 800 ° C, in contrast to 420 ° C by the traditional method. The results of studies of thermal sterilization of apple compote with pre-heating of fruits in jars with saturated steam are presented. New modes of heat sterilization of apple compote in autoclaves have been established, which provide a significant reduction in the duration of heat treatment. Curves of warming up and actual mortality are given, which confirm that the regimes provide the required mortality, confirming their safety. An innovative technology for the production of apple compote using pre-heating of fruits in jars with saturated steam and new heat sterilization modes are presented.