When fresh fruits and vegetables are processed into fruit and vegetable powder, the moisture content is less than 6%, which reduces the loss caused by decay. The low moisture content reaches the level that microorganisms cannot utilize it, and the activity of the enzymes contained is also inhibited, which can greatly reduce the costs of storage, transportation, and packaging. Fruit and vegetable powder making does not have high requirements on raw materials, especially the edible skin and core can be utilized, which broadens the application range of fruit and vegetable raw materials. Fruit and vegetable powder has the characteristics of easy storage and consumption, strong adjustability and rich nutrition. It maintains the original nutritional flavor of fruits and vegetables and the nutritional components of fruit and vegetable skins and cores, and does not add any additives and pigments. It has been used as an ingredient to process other foods and has become a good nutritional deep-processing product.
Development value and application of fruit and vegetable powder
Fruit and vegetable powder can be applied to various fields of food processing, which helps to improve the nutritional content of products, improve the color and flavor of products, and enrich the variety of products. It can be mainly used for: pasta products, such as adding carrot powder to noodles to make carrot noodles; puffed food, such as using tomato powder as a seasoning for puffed food; meat products, such as adding vegetable powder to ham sausage; dairy products, such as adding various fruit and vegetable powder to dairy products; candy products, adding apple powder and grass powder during the processing of candy; baked products, such as adding onion powder and tomato powder during the processing of biscuits.
Using fruit and vegetable powder to make beverages does not affect the flavor of fresh fruits and vegetables; fruit powder can be made into fruit wine and fruit vinegar through fermentation, blending and filtering processes.
It can be used as food additives. Candy, cakes, biscuits, bread and many other foods can add a certain proportion of fruit and vegetable powder during the production process, which can improve the nutritional structure of the products and make the products better in color, aroma and taste.
Fruit and vegetable powder contains pigments, pectin, tannins and other ingredients. Some specific fruits and vegetables also contain medicinal ingredients, and valuable by-products can be extracted from them through biochemical pathways.
Fruit and vegetable juice powder is rich in vitamins and minerals. After proper treatment, cyclodextrin and other substances are added to effectively encapsulate and protect most of the nutrients in the fruit and vegetable juice. At the same time, some nutrients are strengthened, homogenized, and vacuum freeze-dried to obtain nutritious fruit and vegetable powder.
Adding fruit and vegetable powder to infant and elderly food can supplement vitamins and dietary fiber to balance the diet.
Processing method of fruit and vegetable powder
The production of fruit and vegetable powder is generally to dry and dehydrate the fruit and vegetable raw materials first, and then further crush them. The main drying methods of fruits and vegetables are hot air drying and vacuum freeze drying. The latter is dried under freezing and vacuum conditions, so the nutrients, color and flavor of fruits and vegetables are greatly preserved.
Fruit and vegetable powder can also be made by beating, homogenizing and then spray drying, but this process has low raw material utilization and high cost, and is rarely used in production. There are few varieties of fruit and vegetable powder available, mainly pumpkin powder, tomato powder, garlic powder, onion powder, etc., but these powder particles are still too large, inconvenient to use, and the temperature of the material is too high during powder making; the nutrients, color and flavor of the product are destroyed, and even a burnt smell is produced.
The various fruit and vegetable powders on the market are basically coarse processed powders and spray dried powders. One is that it is far from reaching the basic tissue of plant organisms-cell-level crushing and fiber bundle separation, and the nutrients cannot be effectively precipitated and absorbed during consumption; the second is that the processed fruit and vegetable powder has a high loss of nutrients, a large difference in color, aroma and taste, and a lot of waste residue. Traditional fruit and vegetable powders not only have few varieties, but also have large particles, which are inconvenient to use. In addition, the temperature of the material is too high during powder making, which destroys the nutritional content, color and flavor of the product, and even produces a burnt smell. The drying technologies used for fruit and vegetable powder processing mainly include hot air drying, spray drying, microwave freeze drying, vacuum freeze drying and ultrafine grinding technology.
Therefore, the processing of fruit and vegetable powder is developing in the direction of ultrafine grinding. After the fruits and vegetables are dried and then ultrafinely ground, the particle size can reach the micron level. Due to the ultrafine particles, they have surface area and small size effects, and their physical and chemical properties will undergo tremendous changes. Food ultrafine grinding technology is a new means for the food processing industry, which will surely bring great impetus to the improvement of traditional processes and the development of new products.
After micronization, foods have strong surface adsorption and affinity, so they have good solid fragrance, dispersibility and solubility, which is conducive to absorption and digestion. After the fruits and vegetables are dried and then ultrafinely ground, the particles can reach the micron level.
Due to the ultra-fine particles, it has significant advantages: first, the physical properties of fruit and vegetable powder such as dispersibility, water solubility, adsorption, affinity, etc. are improved, making it more convenient to use; second, the nutrients are easier to digest and taste better; third, the dietary fiber in fruits and vegetables is utilized to achieve full utilization of fruits and vegetables, and the fruit peels and cores are ultra-finely crushed together, which can be formulated and deeply processed into various functional foods, develop new ingredients, and improve resource utilization, which is in line with the development direction of "high efficiency, high quality, and environmental protection" of today's food processing industry.
As the processing technology of fruit and vegetable powder becomes more and more mature, fruit and vegetable powder can not only be used as a substitute for fresh fruits and vegetables in special environments to ensure the nutritional needs of the human body, but also meet people's requirements for the diversification, high-end and convenience of fruits and vegetables in daily life.
Fruit and vegetable powder processing meets the development requirements of "high efficiency, high quality and environmental protection" of today's food processing industry. Therefore, fruit and vegetable powder processing will surely develop rapidly.