METHOD FOR PRODUCING SHATTERED PRESERVATIVE-FREE DRIED FRUIT PIECES

Abstract: A method of producing shattered, preservative-free dried fruit by freezing low moisture fruit (preferably having moisture content of 22 % - 30 %) prior to crushing the frozen fruit (preferably with a roller mill) to produce randomized, shattered fruit pieces (preferably having size primarily in the range from 1/4 inch to 3/8 inch). The shattered fruit pieces are optionally dried (for example, while they are warmed in a warm air dryer) to reduce their moisture content to 22 % - 25 % prior to packaging. In an optional, preliminary processing step, dried fruit is first rehydrated to a moisture content of 26 % - 30 % (preferably 28 % - 29 %) to produce low moisture fruit. The low moisture fruit is pitted and then frozen. The frozen, low moisture fruit is then shattered (and optionally then dried) in accordance with the invention.

Description: METHOD FOR PRODUCING SHATTERED PRESERVATIVE-FREE DRIED FRUIT PIECES Field of the Invention This invention relates to a method of producing shattered, dried, preservative- free fruit pieces. In particular, the invention relates to a method of producing preservative- free dried fruit pieces with a random shaped appearance that do not tend to absorb moisture and lose their integrity quickly. Background of the Invention Small dried fruit pieces are a popular industrial food ingredient used in baking, trail mixes and cereal applications. Conventional dried fruit pieces are often sticky and tend to clump together unless coated with cornstarch, vegetable oil or other non-stick coating agents. Fruit pieces without preservatives are difficult to store at moisture contents greater than 25% because of the increased risks of yeast and mold growth. At moisture contents below 25% there is generally not enough free water to support growth of yeast and mold. One method of manufacturing fruit pieces is to form ground fruit paste into square or rectangular bits . Another method entails blending and extruding finely ground or chopped diced fruit with functional ingredients (which can include colors and flavors) and coating the resulting pieces with non-stick coatings to prevent clumping. However, both of these methods produce pieces that tend to absorb moisture and lose their integrity rapidly. U.S. Patent 4,948,679, issued August 14, 1996, discloses a process for freezing and thawing and then vacuum drying fruits and vegetables to produce crispy and tender puffed food products. An English language abstract of Japanese patent application 58134942A discloses a method of processing fruit by rapid freezing at low temperature, pulverizing the fruit at low temperature and defrosting the pulverized fruit with the addition of gum arabic and/or sugar. Although useful in jams and jellies, pulverized fruit particles are too small to be useful as a snack food item or as an ingredient where larger particulates are desired. In addition, pulverized fruit particles, when molded, diced, or otherwise formed into larger pieces, tend to absorb moisture and lose their integrity rapidly. It would be advantageous to have a process for producing preservative-free shattered fruit pieces that have a useful size and a random shaped appearance, and do not tend to absorb moisture and lose their integrity as quickly. Summary of the Invention The present invention is a process for producing shattered, dried, preservative-free fruit pieces. In a first step of a first embodiment, low moisture (22- 30%) fruit is cryogenically frozen with C0 2 snow for a period of approximately 10-14 minutes, preferably 12 minutes. In the second step, the frozen fruit is impacted to break the fruit into useful-sized frozen pieces (having size primarily in the range 1/4 inch to 3/8 inch, in the preferred implementations) . A third step is then performed if the pieces from the second step have a moisture content greater than 25%. In the third step, the frozen fruit pieces are warmed and dried to reduce the moisture content of the pieces to 22-25% (by weight) . In a second embodiment, the frozen fruit is crushed with a dual pass roller mill in the second step of the process. In a third embodiment, the frozen fruit pieces are warmed in a drier at temperatures between 150°F and 180°F in the third step of the process. In a fourth embodiment, the fruit are selected from the group consisting of dried prunes, pears, peaches, apricots, apples, nectarines, figs, dates and raisins. In yet another embodiment, the invention is a process for producing shattered, prunes, comprising, in order, the steps: a) increasing the moisture content of dried prunes to 26-30%, preferably 28-29%, to produce low moisture prunes; b) pitting the prunes; c) cryogenically freezing the low moisture pitted prunes to form frozen prunes; d) impacting the frozen pitted prunes with a dual pass roller mill to form primarily 1/4 to 3/8 inch frozen fruit pieces; and e) warming the frozen prune pieces to maintain or reduce the moisture content to 22-25% prior to storage . Brief Description of the Drawing Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a system for producing shattered, dried, fruit pieces. Detailed Description of the Invention The present invention provides a method of producing shattered, dried, fruit pieces by freezing fruit (preferably low moisture fruit) and impacting the frozen fruit with a dual pass roller mill to produce randomized fruit pieces (preferably at least primarily 1/4 to 3/8 inches in size) . In a first embodiment, fruit, for example apricots and peaches, is harvested, cut in half, pitted and dried to a moisture content of 22-30% (22- 25% for fruit other than prunes) before being frozen in accordance with the invention. In an alternative embodiment, fruit (preferably prunes) are harvested, dried (eg., to have water content in the range of 16- 18%) , rehydrated to a moisture content of 22-30% and then pitted (before being frozen in accordance with the invention) . When the fruit are prunes, they are preferably rehydrated to have moisture content in the range of 28-29%. It is essential that all of the pit material is removed from the fruit prior to further processing in accordance with the invention. We use the term "fruit" to denote the fruit of a single type or a mixture of several types of fruit . The low moisture (22-30%) fruit is then frozen in C0 2 snow. Liquid nitrogen or liquid oxygen can also be used as freezing agents in this invention. Preferably, the frozen fruit is then transferred to an equilibration chamber to allow the temperature of the fruit to equilibrate. Next, the temperature equilibrated frozen fruit is impacted with a dual pass roller mill to form shattered fruit pieces (primarily of 1/4 to 3/8 inches in size, in preferred implementations) . Also in preferred implementations, the shattered, frozen fruit pieces are then warmed with a warm air dryer at from 150-180°F for about 20 minutes to thaw the frozen pieces and maintain or reduce the moisture content of the thawed fruit to around 25% (by weight) . Alternatively, the frozen pieces are thawed and then warmed (or otherwise dried) if necessary prior to packaging. Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a system for producing shattered, frozen, fruit pieces in accordance with the invention. In Figure 1, the low moisture fruit is loaded onto a feed and inspection conveyor 1 and transferred by conveyor 1 to cryogenic freezer 2 for freezing. Cryogenic freezer 2 contains C0 2 snow. The frozen fruit is transferred from freezer 2 to an equilibration chamber 3 where the frozen fruit is allowed to temperature equilibrate at a temperature in the range -55 °F to -80°F. The temperature equilibrated fruit is passed from the equilibration chamber to an elevating conveyor 4 inside a cold room 5. The cold room is cooled with an air conditioner to a temperature in the range of 32-40°F. The air conditioner serves to reduce the moisture content and the temperature of the cold room. The elevating conveyor 4 transfers the frozen pieces to a dual pass roller mill 6 that is also inside the cold room. The roller mill breaks the frozen fruit primarily into 1/4 to 3/8 inch pieces which are then passed through a grading shaker 7. Fine material of size less than 1/8 inch is separated out as fines 8. Fruit material larger than 3/8 inch is screened out and recycled back through the mill. Correctly sized pieces (of size in the range 1/4 inch to 3/8 inch, or at least, primarily in the 1/4 to 3/8 inch range) are passed through warmer 9 for warming and drying at temperatures between 150°F and 180°F (typically for about 20 minutes) until the fruit reach a moisture content of 25%. The dried fruit pieces are then packaged. The advantages of this method are both aesthetic and f nctional . The random shaped appearance of the fruit pieces presents a more natural ingredient image which is preferred to the angular (and more uniform) shape created by dicing. The shattered product of the invention is also free flowing and each piece is firm. The functional advantage of a free flowing product is that it allows more trouble free blending and can reduce or eliminate the need for non-stick additives. In contrast to ground fruit paste that has been diced into regular shaped pieces or "bits", the shattered fruit pieces of this invention do not tend to absorb moisture and lose their integrity quickly. The inventive method of size reduction also does not produce objectionable long strips of fruit skin as does standard dicing techniques . The inventive method also produces dried fruit pieces that can be stored without preservatives. The invention is further demonstrated by the following illustrative example. Example 1 Plums are harvested (typically with moisture content of about 80%) . Plums are then dried to 16- 17% moisture in a 180°F drier to form low moisture, dried, whole prunes. Dried prunes generally can be stored for at least 24 months so long as they are not exposed to moisture and infestation since their water content is generally too low to support the growth of fungi and bacteria. In order to pit the dried whole prunes, the prunes are first washed and steamed to cook and tenderize them. In steaming the prunes, the moisture content of the prunes is increased to 28-29% to increase pitting efficiency. The hot, steamed prunes are then pitted with an automatic prune pitter and sorted to remove any remaining pits . In all embodiments of the invention, it is essential that all of the pit material is removed. The pitted prunes (with 28-29% moisture content) are blanketed with C0 2 snow to reduce the temperature of the dried fruit to around -55 to -80°F. The frozen prunes are transferred to an equilibration chamber until the temperature of the frozen prunes equilibrates throughout the fruit, generally about 5 minutes at -55 to -80°F. The frozen prunes are then impacted in a heavy duty dual pass roller mill to break the fruit primarily into 1/4 to 3/8 inch pieces. Alternatively, the frozen prunes can be impacted with a device such as a hammer mill to break the fruit into small pieces. (However, this process dramatically increases the fines.) While still frozen, the fine material (≤ 1/8 inch) is separated out and material larger than 3/8 inch is screened and recycled through the roller mill . Correctly sized pieces are then thawed to ambient temperature in a drier at temperatures less than 180°F for about 20 minutes to reduce the moisture content to 25% and then packaged. It is imperative that moisture from ambient air is not allowed to condense on the cold surface of the shattered prune pieces during thawing. The prune pieces must be warmed and dried prior to packaging to minimize condensation since free moisture encourages yeast and mold growth in areas where prune sugars are diluted. A warming tumbler or drier with circulating air is used to evaporate any condensed moisture prior to packaging. Alternative embodiments of the invention are variations on the above-described methods in which shattered, dried vegetable pieces (rather than shattered, dried fruit pieces) are produced. Examples of vegetables that can be processed in accordance with such embodiments include carrots, squash, zucchini, potatoes, celery, and peppers. In implementing these embodiments, one or more vegetables are frozen (preferably after the moisture content of each vegetable has been reduced to the range of 22-25%) , and then impacted (for example, using a roller mill) to break the frozen vegetable material into pieces. The frozen pieces can then be dried (or thawed and dried, in a warm air drier) to maintain or reduce their moisture content further (e.g. , to 22-25%) . Although preferred embodiments of the invention have been described, modifications of the described methods of preparing shattered, dried fruit will be apparent to those skilled in the art and modifications which include such features are therefore considered to be within the scope of the appended claims .

Claims: What is Claimed 1. A process for producing shattered, dried fruit, comprising the steps of: a) freezing fruit having a moisture content of 22%-30% to form frozen fruit and b) impacting the frozen fruit to break the fruit into frozen fruit pieces. 2. The process of claim 1, also including the step of : c) drying the frozen fruit pieces to reduce their moisture content to 22%-25%. 3. The process of claim 1, wherein the fruit are frozen using C0 2 snow during step a) . 4. The process of claim 3 , wherein the fruit are frozen in C0 2 snow for 10 to 14 minutes during step a) . 5. The process of claim 1, wherein the fruit are frozen in liquid nitrogen during step a) . 6. The process of claim 1, wherein the fruit are frozen in liquid oxygen during step a) . 7. The process of claim 1, wherein the frozen fruit are impacted by a dual pass roller mill during step b) . 8. The process of claim 1, wherein the frozen fruit pieces of step b) are primarily 1/4 inch to 3/8 inch in size. 9. The process of claim 2, wherein the frozen fruit pieces are dried in a warm air drier during step c) . 10. The process of claim 9, wherein the warm air drier dries the frozen pieces at a temperature in the range from 150°F to 180°F. 11. The process of claim 7, wherein the frozen fruit pieces of step b) are primarily 1/4 inch to 3/8 inch in size. 12. The process of claim 1 wherein the fruit is pitted fruit selected from the group consisting of prunes, pears, peaches, apricots, apples, figs, dates, raisins and nectarines. 13. The process of claim 12 wherein the fruit is pitted fruit selected from the group consisting of pears, peaches, apricots, apples, figs, dates, raisins and nectarines and the moisture content of the fruit of step a) is 22-25%. 14. A process for producing shattered, dried, fruit, comprising the steps of: a) increasing the moisture content of dried fruit to 22%-30% to produce low moisture fruit ; b) freezing the low moisture fruit to form frozen fruit; c) impacting the frozen fruit to form primarily 1/4 inch to 3/8 inch frozen fruit pieces; and d) warming the frozen fruit pieces to decrease their moisture content to 22%-25% prior to storage. 15. The process of claim 14, wherein the low moisture fruit is frozen using C0 2 snow during step b) . 16. The process of claim 15, wherein the fruit are frozen in C0 2 snow for 10 to 14 minutes during step b) . 17. The process of claim 14 wherein the fruit are frozen in liquid nitrogen or in liquid oxygen during step b) . 18. The process of claim 17 wherein the fruit are frozen in liquid nitrogen or in liquid oxygen for 10 to 14 minutes during step b) . 19. The process of claim 14, wherein the frozen fruit are impacted by a dual pass roller mill during step c) . 20. The process of claim 14, wherein the frozen fruit pieces are warmed in a warm air drier during step d) . 21. The process of claim 20, wherein the warm air drier warms the frozen fruit pieces at a temperature in the range of from 150°F to 180°F. 22. The process of claim 14, wherein the fruit is pitted fruit selected from the group consisting of prunes, pears, peaches, apricots, apples, figs, dates, raisins and nectarines. 23. The process of claim 14, wherein the fruit is pitted prunes and the moisture content of the prunes of step a) is 28-29%.

Inventors: YATES ROBERT L, YATES, ROBERT, L.
Applicants: SUNSWEET GROWERS, SUNSWEET GROWERS, INC.
Application year: 1998
Main classification: A23C1
IPC codes: A23B7