CANNING OF FRUITS AND VEGETABLES

Canning
Process of sealing foods hermetically in containers and sterilizing them by heat for long storage

Invented by Nicholas Appert, a Paris confectioner and distiller in 1810

As a honour to his discovery, canning is also termed as appertizing

Appert packed food in glass containers, added sufficient water to cover the food, placed the
corks loosely on top and heated the containers in a water-bath to obtain a temperature of 190-
212°F at the center of the containers.

After cooling, the containers were sealed air-tight. By this method, he succeeded in preserving
several kinds of foods

Fruits and vegetables are canned during the season, when the raw material is plenty and are
sold during off season, giving better returns to the grower.

Principle of canning: Destruction of spoilage microbes within the sealed container by the
means of heat.
SELECTION OF FRUITS AND VEGETABLES

1. Fruits and vegetables should be absolutely fresh

2. Fruits should be ripe, firm and uniformly mature
3. Over ripened fruits are infected with microbes giving a poor product. Unripened fruits are
generally shriveled and toughen on canning
4. All vegetables except tomatoes should be tender. Tomatoes should be firm, fully ripened and
deep red in colour

5. Fruits and vegetables should be free from soil, dirt, blemishes, insect damage or mechanical
injury
PROCESS OF CANNING
The fruits and vegetables selected for canning pass through several processes before they are
turned out as finished products. The main processes are:

1.Grading
• The fruits and vegetables are graded according to size and colour.
• This is necessary to obtain a pack of uniform quality.
• This is done by hand or with the help of grading machines such as mechanical grader,
screen graders, roller graders, etc.
• Fruits like berries, plums, cherries, and olives are graded whole, while Peaches, apricots,
pears, mangoes, are generally graded after cutting them into halves or slices

2. Washing
• The graded fruits and vegetables are washed with water in different ways, such as soakng
or agitating in water, washing with cold or hot water sprays, etc.
• A thorough wash is most essential for removing the pesticides and dust.
• Root crops are washed by soaking in water containing 25-50 ppm chlorine, which serves
as detergent.
3. Peeling

Fruits and vegetables are prepared for canning by peeling the outer layer. Fruits and vegetables
are peeled in a variety of ways:

(i) Hand peeling: done in the case of fruits with irregular shape with knife
(ii) Mechanical: Fruits such as pears, apples and root vegetables like carrots, turnips,
potatoes, etc. are peeled
(iii) heat treatment: used only for onion and garlic with papery outer covering
(iv) lye solution: Fruits and vegetables like peaches, apricots, sweet oranges and vegetables
such as carrot, sweet potatoes are peeled by dipping in 1-2% boiling caustic soda or lye
solution from 30 seconds to 2 minutes depending on the nature and maturity of the fruit
and vegetable. Hot lye loosens the skin from the flesh underneath. The peel is then
removed easily by hand. Traces of alkaloid can be removed by washing the fruit or
vegetable thoroughly In running cold water or preferably by dipping it for a few seconds in
0.5% citric acid.
(v) Steam Peeling: Peaches, potatoes, tomatoes, are steam peeled.
4. Cutting
• Pieces of the required size are cut
• Seeds are removed
• In fruits such as plum, where seeds cannot be removed, whole fruits are canned

5. Balanching
• Also known as scalding, parboiling, pre-cooking
• Treatment of fruits and vegetables with boiling water or steam for short periods (2-5
minutes) followed by cooling prior to canning is known as blanching.
• In a small cannery, the fruit or vegetable to be balanched is placed in a wire basket, which is
first dipped in hot water for a short period, ranging from 2-5 minutes and then dipped in cold
water.
• In Iarge canneries, blanching is done on conveyor belt passing through boiling water or steam
Advantages
• Inactivates most of the plant enzymes that cause toughness, dis-colouration such as
browning, off-flavour.
• Reduces the leaf area of leafy vegetables by shrinking, making their packing better
• Enhances the green colour to vegetables such as peas, broccoli and spinach
• Removes saponins in pea
Disadvantages
• Water soluble materials such as anthocyanin pigments are leached by boiling water
• Fruits loose their colour, flavour and sugar.
6. Filling

Before filling, cans are washed with water or subjected to a steam jet to remove any adhering
dust or foreign matter.
In large canneries, cans are washed with jets of compressed air or water.
Automatic large can filing machines are used in the large canneries of many countries.
Choice grades of fruits are generally filled by hand to prevent bruising as also to ensure a
properly graded pack.
In India, hand filling is the common practice.

After filling, the cans are filled with hot sugar syrup for fruits, and with hot brine for vegetables.

Syruping
A solution of cane sugar in water is known as syrup.
The objective of adding syrup is to improve the taste of the canned product and to serve as a
heat transfer medium for facilitating processing.
Hot syrup concentration of 20-55 °Brix will be filled at 79- 82 °C , leaving a head space of 0.3-0.5
cm.

Brining
A solution of salt in water is known as brine. Objective of brining and syruping are similar
Only vegetables are brined
Hot brine concentration of 2-3% will be filled at 79- 82 °C , leaving a head space of 0.3-0.5 cm.
7. Lidding or Clinching
Formerly the cans after being filled, were used to be taken to the exhaust, with the top lids
loosely placed. In large-scale practice this had certain disadvantages, such as spilling of the
contents, toppling of the lids, etc.
Lidding has now been modernized by the 'Clinching- process in which the lid is partially seamed
to the can by a single first roller action of a double seamer.
The lid remains sufficiently loose to permit the escape of the dissolved and free air from the
contents as well as of the vapour formed during the exhaust process.

8.Exhausting
Before sealing the cans finally, it is necessary to remove air from the contents. The process of air
removal from the cans is known as exhausting.
Cans are exhausted by heating to a temperature of 79 °C for 6-10 minutes by passing through a
tank containing hot water.

9. Sealing
Immediately after exhausting the cans are sealed airtight by a can sealer. During sealing, the
temperature should be maintained at 74 °C.
10. Processing
The term processing as used in canning technology', means the cooking of canned foods to
inactivate bacteria.

Bacterial spores can be killed by exposing the can to high or low temperatures.

Cans with all fruits and acid vegetables are processed at 100 °C in open type cookers,
continuous agitating and non-agitating cookers.
Cans with non-acid vegetables with hard texture are processed at a high temperatures of 115-
121 °C in automatic pressure cookers.

11. Cooling
After processing, the cans are rapidly cooled to 39 C, by immersing the hot cans in a container
with cold water.
If the cans are not cooled immediately, the foods may become dark in colour (peaches and
pears), turn brownish with bitter taste (tomato), develop sour taste (Many vegetables)

12. Storage
After labeling, cans are packed in strong wooden cases or in card board cartons and stored in a
cool dry place
The marketable life of the canned foods vary according to the food material.
 Containers for Packing of Canned Products

Two types of containers are used in the canning industry

1. Tin Containers
Made of thin steel plate of low carbon content, highly coated on both sides with tin metal.

The usual weight of tin coating is 1 -5 lb. of tin, which gives a thickness of 0.00009 inch.

Lacquering
• It is difficult to coat steel plate uniformly with tin during the process of manufacture.
• Small microscopic spaces are always left uncoated. although the coating may appear perfect
to the eye.
• The contents of the can may react with these uncoated parts and cause discolouration of the
product or corrosion of the tinplate.
• When corrosion is severe, the steel is attacked and black stains of iron sulphide are
produced.

• It is necessary to coat the inside of the can with a specific material known as lacquer, which
Prevents the discolouration without affecting the flavor or wholesomeness of the contents.
This process is known as lacquering.
Two types of lacquers are used

1. Acid Resistant lacquer:

Is a golden colour enamel and cans are coated with it are called R-enamel or A.R. Cans
These cans are used for packing acid fruits whose Colouring matter is insoluble. Ex. Strawberry,
grapes, etc.

2. Sulphur Resistant lacquer

Is a golden colour enamel and the cans coated with it are known as C-enamel or S.R.Cans
These cans are used for non-acid foods such as pea, corn, beans, etc.

Applications
Tin containers are used due to:
2. Ease of fabrication
3. Strength to withstand processing
4. They are light in weight
5. easy to handle
6. fairly cheap
7. They can be handled on high-speed machines
GLASS CONTAINERS

Glass containers were traditionally used, which possess two distinct advantages over tin cans
1. Contents are being visible and easily displayed
2. They can be used over and over again

Glass of high quality does not contaminate the contents. These containers require extra care
During handling and processing.

Recently, glass containers are being replaced by plastic containers and Heat-sealable pouches
 BOTTLING

Bottles have proved to be very good containers for home preservation of fruits

Essential equipment and method of selection of the fruit grading , sorting, washing, peeling,
Slicing are same as canning for fruits

What are the differences?

1. Filling
2. Syruping
3. Exhausting and sterilization
4. Cooling and storage
1. Filling
Bottles are thoroughly washed and sterilized

Fruit slices are filled about 3cms space at the top of the jar or bottle

2. Syruping
Hot and boiling sugar syrup is filled in the case of fruits, leaving a head space of 1-1.5 cms

3. Exhausting and sterilization

exhausting of bottles can be done simultaneously by putting a pad of false bottom under the
Bottles.

Bottles should not be immersed abruptly in hot water, which may break due to a sudden change
In the temperature

The temperature of the water should be same as that of the contents, which should be raised
gradually and the bottles are incubated for a required time

At the start of the sterilization, the lids of the bottle are left loose

The level of the boiling water should come up to the neck of the bottle

Once, the sterilization is over lids of bottles should be closed immediately

4. Cooling and Storage

• In practice, product is heated (in a heat exchanger), capped, and the container is then
inverted (turned upside down) for 3 minutes and then may be cooled.
• Inverting the container is needed to make sure that the inner surface of the closure is
exposed to the “hot” temperature for decontamination or microbial inactivation.
• Applying closure at high temperature is a critical step.
• Following the closure, cooling of the product will create a vacuum inside hot-filled
container; providing an anaerobic condition unfavorable for aerobic microbial growth.

• Storage of the bottles is done at low temperatures, which increases the shelf life of the
stored product.
Uses of Bottling
Bottles are considered to be a very good source of containers for preservation of fruits

In spite of their high cost, they can be used for several times and lost for many years if carefully
handled

Fruits looks attractive through the glass and do not develop metallic flavor

Bottling does not a sealing machine

Only disadvantage is initial required capital is high

There are many different types of glass containers with different shapes
 SPOILAGE OF CANNED FOODS

In storage, canned foods are liable to spoilage for various reasons.

Due to which the fruit products often lose their normal and attractive appearance and become
unsealable although they may remain quite fit for consumption.
The two important kinds of spoilage are:
(i) spoilage due to physical or chemical changes and
(ii) spoilage by microorganisms.

Of these, the later is more important. The appearance, taste and smell of a spoilt can of food
are different from those of a good one. Various indications of spoilage are as follows.
Spoilage due to physical and chemical changes
1. Swell: When the ends of a normal can under good conditions of vacuum becomes bulged it
is termed as swell or blower, which might be due to the internal pressure of gasses formed by
Microbial or chemical action. Swelling is due to different factors

Hydrogen Swell: occurs due to the formation of Hydrogen gas due to the action of acids
present in the fruit on the tin-plate, causes the can to bulge at the ends. This bulging ranges
from flipping to hard swell

Flipper : Is a mild positive pressure is called a 'flipper'.

It may be an initial stage of swell or hydrogen swell, but more frequently it is due to under
exhausting or over-filling.

Springer: A mild swell at one end or both the ends of a can is called springer.
It may be an initial stage of hydrogen swell, or may be caused by insufficient exhausting or
overfilling of the can.

Soft swell: advanced stage at which the swell develops at both the can ends. The swell can be
returned back to the normal position, but springs back once the pressure is removed

Hard Swell: Final stage of the swell. Bulged ends cannot be bulged back to the normal position,
Ultimately leading to the can burst.
2. Over filling:
Spoilage due to overfilling is common
Over-filled can become strained due to the expansion of the contents.
In the absence of vacuum swelling takes place. This can be avoided by proper heat exhaustion

3. Under exhaustion
Cans are exhausted to remove the air for generating vacuum.
Improperly exhausted cans suffer with severe internal pressure during heat processing as large
Volume of gas is present in it

4. Rust
Cans with external rust must be thoroughly examined after removing the rust and if the walls
Show pitted appearance, should be considered as spoiled

5. Foreign Flavors
Unhygenic conditions during preparation, processing, transportation might lead to the
development of foreign flavors, such as metallic.

6. Breathing:
A very tiny leak in the can through which air can pass in and destroy the vacuum
In such cases, food will be damaged due to rusting of can caused by oxygen.
Bursting
Occurs due to excess pressure of gasses produced by the decomposition of food by
Microorganisms or
By the hydrogen gas formed by the chemical reaction of food acids with the tin plate

Buckling
Occurs due to improper cooling, leading to the distortion of can , resembling a swell

Discolouration
Can be detected by the visual examination
Occurs due to the biological causes such as enzymatic and non-enzymatic browning and
metallic contamination
Enzymatic browning is due to the activity of polyphenol oxidase
Non-enzymatic browning is due to reactions between nitrogenous compounds and sugars
Metallic contamination is due to iron and copper salts
2. Microbial spoilage
Occurs due to the action of micro-organisms, gases are generated inside the can.

Where there is no gas production, as in flat sour spoilage occurs in non-acid vegetables by
Bacillus, the cans keep their original shape. It is difficult to detect the spoilage from external
appearance.

microbial spoilage of canned foods is generally of two kinds: non-poisonous and poisonous

Non-poisonous Spoilage
This is usually due to under-sterilization.
It is most commonly caused by a variety of yeasts present in the product.
Bacteria are very seldom present in canned fruits of fancy, choice and standard grades which
are carefully packed.
They, however, appear sometimes in pie grade fruits.
Spoiled cans are easily detected by the bulged appearance of their ends, which is due to the
pressure of CO2 generated inside.
Poisonous Spoilage
• This is caused by thermophilic bacteria.
• In this case, gas formation is very rare and the cans retain shape.
• However, the taste and flavour of the product inside suffer.
• Almost all non-acid foods are liable to flat souring.
• It usually occurs in pasty materials or solid packs which are difficult to sterilize, e.g., spinach,
sweet potato, etc.
• Thermophilic bacteria are heat-resistant and persist even at 100 °C.

• If the canned food is stacked in a pile without proper cooling, the cans remain, at a
favourable-incubation temperature for a long time so that these bacteria multiply and spoil
the product.

• It is, therefore, quite essential that the cans should be cooled to about 37 °C before being
stacked.

• Thermophilic bacteria grow by forming spores. Some species, which are facultative, grow
even at 100 °C.

• Obligative bacteria are more difficult to kill than the facultative ones.

• Some thermophiles produce hydrogen, and some hydrogen or sulphide gas. The only way to
get rid of them is to clean and wash the material thoroughly before canning.