many of us like to enjoy a good jelly with toast for breakfast or a snack but we do not really ask ourselves how the jam is made and what it contains is a brief summary of a fruit fermentation process for a good jelly

Process of fermenting the fruit to make jams

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According to the ICONTEC 285 standard, it is defined as:

FRUIT MARMALADE: "Pasty product obtained by cooking and concentration of pulp or mixture of pulp and juice of one or more fruits, conveniently prepared with sweeteners, with the addition or not of water and the additives allowed". The standard indicates that the final concentration of soluble solids, by refractometric reading, should not be less than 65%.

Marmalade is also defined as the product obtained by the concentration of the pulp, with adequate amounts of sugar, pectin and acid, until reaching sufficient Brix degrees for gelation to occur during cooling. This product must be characterized by a good consistency, that is to say, to present a doughy but not hard body.

RAW MATERIALS USED IN THE PRODUCTION OF JAMS

fruit

From the manufacturing point of view they supply the smell, flavor and color of the product to be elaborated and they generally provide pectic substances, acids and sugars, necessary components to obtain a final product of good quality.

The characteristics of the fruit to be used are the following:

• Optimal state of maturity

• Taste, color and aroma of fruits that have reached physiological maturity

• Good sugar / acid balance.

• Suitable pectin content.

• Health

For making jams you can start from:

fresh fruit from the collection centers or directly from the crops.

Fruit rejected by size.

Preserved fruit, that is, one that has been preserved either by chemical substances such as sulfur dioxide, or by a process such as canning, or by refrigeration, freezing or dehydration systems.

Sugars

The ICONTEC 285 standard allows the use as sweeteners in the manufacture of marmalades of the following sugars: sucrose, invert sugar, glucose and honey.

Acids

Fruits contain different organic acids, of which usually one predominates. However, many of them do not have enough acid to produce a good gel, so it is necessary to add it. Colombian standards allow the addition of the following acids: citric, tartaric, malic, lactic and fumaric; Among these the most used is citrus for its pleasant flavor. The amount to be used varies between 0.1-0.2% of the total weight of the jam. In the case of fruits with excessive acidity, buffer salts such as sodium citrate and sodium carbonate can be used.

Pectic substances

They are part of the tissues of fruits; they are located in the intercellular spaces and in the primary wall of the cells and have the function of reinforcing their structure.

Its importance in the process of making jams lies in its ability to form gels in the presence of sugar and acid or divalent ions such as calcium.

Some fruits used to make jams have a low pectin content, which is why commercial pectins must be added to supply this deficiency. The trade offers pectins in both solid and liquid states. It is more convenient to use pectin powder than liquid, because its activity remains unchanged during storage at room temperature, while liquid pectin undergoes degradation losing activity with storage and require the presence of a preservative to prevent fermentation.

In later sections we will introduce some aspects concerning the pectic substances, as well as their training mechanism.

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The reason for the boiling is not only to evaporate the water to reach the desired concentration, but also to achieve the pasteurization of the mixture, helping to dissolve the sugar and the other soluble ingredients and ensuring the partial inversion of the sucrose; it should last from 7-8 minutes with a maximum of 10, as there may be danger of degrading the pectin, inverting the sucrose too much and deteriorating the flavor and aroma of the product.

PROCESS

As mentioned above, fresh or preserved fruit can be used for the preparation of marmalades. In the case of fresh fruit, the stages of reception, selection, classification, washing, disinfection, peeling, cutting and pulping are carried out, thus leaving the pulp ready to enter the concentration stage. When sulfated fruit is used, it is necessary to first perform a desulphurization. To do this, it is boiled with 20% water and heated for 5-10 minutes until no less than 90% of the sulfur dioxide present is removed. Once the pulp is obtained, the concentration of soluble solids and the pH must be verified (in order to determine the need or not to add an acid or a base to adjust it to the optimum conditions). Next, the proportion of the different components of the product, that is, its formulation, is calculated; This will basically depend on the product you want to obtain: final Brix degrees and percentage of fruit. Knowing in advance the final weight of a jam, from the initial weight of fruit, will allow others:

• Prepare the necessary containers for all the marmalade.

• Calculate the amount of pectin that should eventually be added.

• Plan the production process.

Once it has been formulated, it is cooked; the pulp and half the sugar are added to the kettle; When the boiling begins, the other half of the sugar is added, this in order to dissolve completely. Adding a portion of the sugar to the fruit in the preliminary heating serves to achieve a certain degree of investment of the sucrose used, that is, to transform part of the sugar into invert sugar, which is a mixture of glucose with fructose, two sugars simple produced from sucrose by the action of the acid of the fruit. This prevents crystallization due to the excessive concentration of the product and, in addition, a special brightness due to glucose is achieved. When adding the last portion of sugar do not exceed 60 ° Brix, in order to control the concentration process in the last stage of evaporation. Avoid over concentration, always controlling the Brix degrees or the weight of the product in case of not having a refractometer.

The addition of acid or salt to adjust the pH should be done by the end to avoid too much sugar investment. The pectin must be added at the end of the process and in a mixture of 5 to 10 times its weight in sugar due to its tendency to form lumps.The reason for the boiling is not only to evaporate the water to reach the desired concentration,

but also to achieve the pasteurization of the mixture, helping to dissolve the sugar and the other soluble ingredients and ensuring the partial inversion of the sucrose; it should last from 7-8 minutes with a maximum of 10, as there may be danger of degrading the pectin, inverting the sucrose too much and deteriorating the flavor and aroma of the product.

DEFECTS OF JAMS

1. DEVELOPMENT OF FUNGI AND YEASTS ON THE SURFACE

It is caused by non-hermetic or contaminated containers; incomplete solidification, resulting in a weak structure; it is also presented by a low content of soluble solids, filling the containers at too low a temperature, and by excessive concentration of gases inside the container, due to non-continuous filling.

2. CRYSTALLIZATION OF SUGARS

A low inversion of sucrose, due to too low acidity, causes crystallization. On the other hand, an inversion elevated by an excessive acidity or a prolonged action, causes crystallization of the glucose.

3. CARAMELIZATION OF SUGARS

It is manifested by a prolonged cooking, by a slow cooling in the same cooking vessel and by an excessive addition of sugar.

As stated before, no process has a permanent rigid scheme, change is a condition for growth and, therefore, it must be clear that evolution always implies modifying pre-established schemes. It is also important to consider that these changes are not arbitrary, nor are they the result of analysis processes in which the foundations for such changes must be clearly stated.

Elaboration process

Selection In this operation those fruits in a state of rot are eliminated. The fruit harvested must be subjected to a selection process, since the quality of the jam will depend on the fruit.

Heavy

It is important to determine the performances and to calculate the quantity of the other ingredients that will be added later. Washing It is carried out with the purpose of eliminating any kind of foreign particles, dirt and soil residues that may be attached to the fruit. This operation can be done by immersion, agitation or spraying. Once the fruit is washed, the use of a disinfectant solution is recommended. The disinfectant solutions mostly used are composed of sodium hypochlorite (bleach) in a concentration of 0.05 to 0.2%. The immersion time in these disinfectant solutions should not be less than 15 minutes. Finally the fruit should be rinsed with plenty of water.

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Bare

Peeling can be done manually, using knives, or mechanically with machines. In the mechanical peeling, the peel is removed, the heart of the fruit and if desired it is cut into slices, always depending on the type of fruit.

Pulped

It consists of obtaining the pulp or juice, free of peels and seeds. This operation is carried out at an industrial level in pulpeadoras. At a semi-industrial or artisanal level it can be done using a blender. Depending on the tastes and preferences of the consumers, the fruit may be liquefied or not. It is important that in this part the pulp is weighed since this will depend on the calculation of the rest of 12 inputs.

Precooking of the fruit

The fruit is cooked gently until before adding sugar. This cooking process is important to break down the cell membranes of the fruit and extract all the pectin. If necessary, water is added to prevent the product from burning. The amount of water to be added will depend on how juicy the fruit is, the amount of fruit placed in the pot and the source of heat.

Cooking

The cooking of the mixture is the operation that has

greater importance on the quality of the jam; therefore, it requires a lot of skill and practice on the part of the operator. The cooking time depends on the variety and texture of the raw material. In this respect a short cooking time is of great importance to preserve the color and natural flavor of the fruit and excessive cooking produces a darkening of the jam

due to the caramelization of sugars. Cooking can be done at atmospheric pressure in open pans or vacuum in closed pots. In the process of vacuum cooking, hermetically closed pans are used that work at vacuum pressures between 700 to 740 mm Hg., The product is concentrated at temperatures between 60 - 70 ° C, keeping better the organoleptic characteristics of the fruit.

Packing

It is carried out hot at a temperature not lower than 85 ° C. This temperature improves the fluidity of the product during filling and at the same time allows the formation of an adequate vacuum inside the container due to the contraction of the jam once it has cooled. In this process, a jar with a spout can be used to easily fill the containers, preventing it from spilling over the edges. At the time of packaging, check that the containers are not cracked, deformed, clean and disinfected. The filling is done up to the level of the container, the lid is immediately placed and the container is turned over in order to sterilize the lid. In this position it remains for 3 minutes and then carefully turns