WO2019074351A1

WO2019074351A1 - Method for producing edible films of fruit and vegetables and resulting product

Info

Publication number: WO2019074351A1
Application number: PCT/MX2017/000118
Authority: WO
Inventors: César Alejandro BONILLA SOLÍS
Original assignee: Bonilla Solis Cesar Alejandro
Priority date: 2017-10-12
Filing date: 2017-10-13
Publication date: 2019-04-18
Also published as: MX2017013198A

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for producing edible films of fruit and/or vegetables and to the resulting product, the method being characterised in that it comprises a set of steps for treating fruit and/or vegetables to obtain therefrom films or sheets of dehydrated product, in a roll or independent sheets, which can be reconstituted in water and can be enriched with other fruit and/or vegetables and with nutraceutical or functional agents.

Description

PROCESS OF ELABORATION OF EDIBLE FRUIT AND VEGETABLE FILMS, AND RESULTING PRODUCT

Field of Invention

The present invention relates to a novel process of making edible films of fruits and vegetables without additives, reconstituted in water, obtained by solar dehydration from Mangifera indica L. as a base binder.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Mango is produced in 26 of the 32 entities in Mexico, although the best producing area is the western coast; activity that in general has become a great economic potential for the region. In countries like ours, there are significant post-harvest losses in the initial phase of the supply chain, this occurs due to the absence of the development of new products with added value, as well as financial and structural limitations in the techniques of collection, poor transport and storage infrastructure, which together with climatic conditions that favor the deterioration of food, promotes that a large amount of these resources end up thrown in landfills, generating waste and environmental pollution. With the intention of proposing alternatives that support the resolution of this type of problems, the elaboration of the films of the present invention was proposed, which promote the best use of all this resource.

In terms of the present invention, "films" is defined as a product that offers the possibility of "covering", "coating", "encasing" or "wrapping" culinary preparations such as sushi or mixiotes, for example, by providing food from a better and unexpected aesthetic contribution, until the enrichment of the original organoleptic and nutritive composition.

Another important advantage is that being a dehydrated food significantly prolongs the useful life, in addition to facilitating its transportation to faraway places and its storage in general, offering also the possibility of reconstituting them in water by rehydrating them, and thus being able to use them in multiple preparations. In substitution of fresh fruit in any place and time of the year. This thanks to its natural formulation and without additives such as gums, pectin, glucose, sucrose, starches, maltodextrins, dyes, flavorings or preservatives such as benzoates or potassium metabisulfite; what contributes to promote the growth of a macro global trend: Lifestyles and healthy eating.

From a search of the state of the art of the present invention, some proposals were detected to produce films or mango sheets as those described below:

In an Internet article [Vitae 19 (Suppl 1); 2012; S75] describes the production in Colombia of mango slices using dynamic dehydration, where drying and dehydration of fruits is done using static type equipment. The mango pulp is dehydrated, using a dynamic dryer, that is, a relative movement of the material with respect to the drying air occurs, using a drying air velocity in the range of 1.5 m / s to 3.5 m / s and a temperature in a range of 50 to 70 ° C. In this work the process of fruit dehydration is innovated and proposes a presentation of these products in the form of a sheet. However, although said article refers to the production of sheets or films of the fruit it does not describe in what form or the process that is followed to elaborate them and highlights that the drying or dehydration of the product is by means of air flow and not by heat as in the case of our proposal.

Another article entitled "Ruits Leathers: Method of Preparation and Effect of Different Conditions on Qualities" published online in the Journal Listing J Food Scvi 2014; 2014PMC4745556 published May 4, 2014 doi: 10.1155 / 2014/139890, describes dehydrated fruit products -called them "skins" of fruits- that are eaten as appetizers or desserts.Refers to that they are flexible leaves that have a concentrated flavor of fruit and nutritional aspects and that are prepared by mixing pureed fruits and other additives such as sugar, pectin, acid , glucose syrup, color and potassium metabisulfite, and then dehydrated under specific conditions (these are not described) .It mentions that various drying systems can be used, including combined convective and far infrared drying, hot air drying, microwave drying, solar drying to make these "skins" of fruit and dried at a temperature of 30 to 80 ° C for a maximum of 24 hours. to reach the desired final moisture content (12-20%). Although it anticipates the use of solar energy as a drying option for the fruit, the parameters of temperature and time of drying and the final moisture content are different from those of the new proposal. In addition, it does not describe precisely how fruit "skins" are obtained.

The Korean patent KR275214 referring to Fruit Leather made from Fresh and

Juice Residuos of Japanese Apricot dated December 15, 2015 describes a method to prepare Japanese apricot fruit leather using the pulp and residues in the preparation of Japanese apricot fruit juice to provide a thin and smooth plate of processed Japanese apricot. The method includes the following steps: (i), mix the Japanese apricot pulp and Japanese apricot flour extracted with high fructose corn syrup, sweet potato, sugar and milk powder; (ii). homogenize and spread the mixture on a piece of paper and dry the mixture at 55 ° C for 12 hours with hot air; (iii). cool the mixture in a thin and smooth resulting at room temperature; and (iv). pack the fruit leather with a polyethylene film. The mixture proposed in this document includes other elements that are not necessary in our case and the method of dehydration of the product is different.

The Mexican Patent Publication MX / a / 2007/002830 referring to "Films of fruits and vegetables and uses thereof" dated February 22, 2008, describes single-layer, two-layer and multi-layer films, made of fruits, vegetables, or a combination thereof, whose films have the thinness, strength, flexibility and freshness to serve as alternatives or substitutes for films based on seaweed, while providing the nutrition and flavor of fruits and vegetables. The films are useful for wrapping around a multiplicity of foods, and can be used to provide wrapped foods, including for example sushi wrapped in fruits or vegetables. It will be deduced from the following description that between the manufacturing process and the final resulting product there are substantial differences between what is described in this publication and the present invention.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

It is the main objective of the invention to provide a new method of manufacturing edible fruit and / or vegetable films without additives, reconstituted in water, obtained by solar dehydration from Mangifera indica L. as the base binder.

A feature of the invention is that the production of films, in addition to being simple and inexpensive, is an alternative that offers advantages within the gastronomic and food industry, as it is a product that is easily adaptable in both sweet and salty preparations, either that is used in its state of film to wrap and prepare food, or reconstituted by its rehydration to be used in the form of natural pulp. Another important consideration is its 100% natural origin and free of additives; made from mango pulp (Mangifera indicates L). what gives it physical, organoleptic and mechanical characteristics ideal for its manufacture and handling, since this fruit has an excellent ratio of carbohydrate and fiber content, which promotes a better agglutination of it.

In a preferred embodiment, without being interpreted as a limitation, the process of making edible films of fruits and / or vegetables, is characterized in that it comprises the following stages:

- select the fruit (Mangifera indica L) whose properties are preferably within the range of 12 to 18 ° Bx, as well as a level of acidity between 0.50 and 0.70%;

- pulp the fruit by removing its shell and the bone, to leave only its pulp and natural fiber;

- filter the pulp of the fruit by passing it through a screen or fine wire mesh to retain particles greater than 1.5 mm;

- mix the pulp and the other ingredients according to the case, until a homogeneous and stable product is obtained;

- rolling the homogenized product resulting from the mixture of the previous step, applying a uniform and constant layer thereof on a silicone or other non-stick and heat-resistant material, preferably having a thickness of between 2 to 5 mm;

- Dehydrate the laminated product by exposure to direct solar radiation, at an average and constant temperature of 40 ° C ± 5, for a period of time between 120 and 190 minutes, or until reducing the content of its moisture to 8.8% ± 5, and obtain a value of a _w less than 0.70 to preserve its physical and nutritional properties to the maximum. Alternatively during the dehydration process, mirrors directed to the laminated product can be used, with which the time of the dehydration process can be speeded up, reaching values in the time and temperature variables within the ranges described above; Y

- cutting and vacuum packaging the dehydrated product in films of predetermined dimensions and weight.

In another variant of the invention described above, the process may include a complementary step that is carried out between the stages of rolling and dehydration, in which once the "base flavor" of mango pulp is added or not added with pulps of other fruits and / or vegetables, you can place on top of strips of other films of fruits and / or vegetables previously dehydrated from a predetermined thickness and width, either transverse or longitudinal to the direction of the laminate. Likewise, you can also incorporate fine slices of previously dehydrated fruits, such as strawberry or kiwi for example, being able to vary the distance between them, finally achieving two or more flavors of fruits, vegetables or their mixtures in your product.

Furthermore, prior to the step of cutting and packaging the product, a stage of sprinkling of the films obtained with a layer of an anti-adherent agent over the entire surface of the film, or interspersed between each film of some physical agent, can be added, example, a plastic film to prevent them from sticking together.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

Figure 1 is a general diagram of the process in which the main stages of the process are defined to the left, and to the right others that are optional.

Figure 2 is a representation of the mango film obtained with the process of the present invention.

Figure 3 shows the product obtained already packaged, to which strips of another fruit have been incorporated.

Figure 4 shows another presentation of the product obtained, to which laminar portions or cuts of another fruit have been incorporated.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED MODALITY

OF THE INVENTION

The present invention consists of the method of manufacturing edible films of fruits and vegetables without additives, reconstitutable in water, obtained by solar dehulling, preferably although not necessarily, from Mangifera indica L. as a base binder. In a preferred embodiment, without this being construed as a limitation, said method comprises the following steps:

- select the fruit {Mangifera indica L.) by a combination of visual, chronological and chemical methods, ensuring that it is preferably within the range between 12 to 18 ° Bx, as well as an acid level between 0.50 and 0.70% ;

- To sanitize the fruit by means of an appropriate washing and disinfection process; - pulping the fruit by any suitable means, thus eliminating husk and bone to obtain only the pulp with all its original fiber; - grind the pulp at a pre-established speed and time;

- filter the pulp obtained in the previous stage, making it pass through a screen or fine metal mesh, to retain particles greater than 1.5 mm;

- mix the pulp, and optionally enrich it by adding from 10% and up to 90% by weight of other fruits and / or vegetables previously treated

(hygienization, grinding and filtering), as well as possible nutraceutical and functional agents, such as: omegas, vitamins, pre-biotic, pro-biotic, proteins or seeds of chia (Salvia hispánica L.) whole or ground, in predetermined proportions; the latter, also included within the aforementioned global percentages; until achieving the homogeneity of the substances by the application of force and movement, in order to achieve an intimate contact between the different components, as well as their stability;

- laminate the result of the mixture of the previous stage, by means of a uniform and constant application of the homogenized mixture, on a surface of silicone or other heat-resistant and non-stick material, achieving a thickness that can range from 2 to 5 mm, preferably;

- Dehydrate the previously laminated formulation, by exposure to direct solar radiation, at an average and constant temperature of 40 ° C ± 5, for a period of time between 120 and 190 minutes, or until reducing the moisture content to 8.8 % ± 5, as well as obtaining a value of a _w less than 0.70, thus preserving its physical and nutritional properties to the maximum. Alternatively during the dehydration process, mirrors directed to the laminated product can be used, with which the time of the dehydration process can be speeded up, reaching values in the time and temperature variables within the ranges described above; Y

- Cut and pack the product in a metallized or vacuum polyethylene bag. Optionally, a uniform layer of glycerin, mixtures of lipid components or other anti-adherent agent can be sprayed over the entire surface of the film, to avoid adhesion thereof once superimposed and packed in vacuum. Another alternative to this stage, is to intersperse between each film some physical agent like another plastic film, which promotes a correct separation of the same and that does not adhere to each other.

The above process must be carried out safely, through a ventilated solar chamber, with glass cover, duly protected from environmental contaminants (bacteria, dust and insects), and must be equipped with a temperature-sensitive medium (thermostat ) to activate a source secondary heat that allows a constant dehydration of the product at certain times, cloudy days or seasons More absent from sufficient solar radiation.

Following this same process, films of other fruits, vegetables or their mixtures, in different proportions of mango pulp (Mangifera indica L), can be made as a base binder.

In a complementary way to the process, this can include the additional step of cutting and packing the film, dividing it into predetermined dimensions and weight portions. In another variant, the finished product can be produced in plate or roll to cut laminar portions of specific measures as required.

The final product is vacuum packed in polyethylene bags or metallized with a hermetic closure (zipper type or other appropriate) and can contain an envelope with desiccant gel, to avoid environmental wetting once the product is opened.

In another variant of the invention described above, the process can include a complementary step that is carried out between the stages of rolling and dehydration, in which once laminated the "base flavor" of mango pulp added or not with pulps of other fruits, vegetables and / or nutraceutical or functional agents; other pre-dehydrated fruit and / or vegetable films of a predetermined thickness and width can be placed on top, either transversely or longitudinally to the direction of the laminate. Likewise, you can also incorporate thin slices of fruit or vegetables previously dehydrated, such as strawberry, kiwi or carrot for example, being able to vary the distance between them, finally achieving two or more flavors of fruit or vegetables. or its mixtures.

From the above described process, an edible film made of mango (Mangifera indica L), or mango and a combination of fruits and / or vegetables in different proportions is obtained, wherein said film has a thickness of approximately 1.5 mm, without it is interpreted as a restriction to the management of other values; a moisture content close to 8.8% ± 5 and a value a * less than 0.70. Additionally and as can be deduced from the previous process, the film can be diversified with the addition of strips of other fruit and / or vegetable films, fine cuts of previously dehydrated fruits and / or vegetables, green leafy vegetables or nutraceutical or functional agents previously. described.

Although the invention has been described in the context of the preferred embodiments or embodiments, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that the The scope of the inventive concept described by way of example extends beyond the process specifically described and illustrated to other possible alternative forms of materialization that may be deductible or derivable from the aforementioned principles. In this way, although the invention has been described in detail in its preferred conception, it will be deduced that some stages or conditions of the process, or the aforementioned raw material, can be substituted by other analogous or other incorporated ones in light of the description which precedes without implying that the essence or nature of the claimed invention is modified.

Accordingly, it is intended that the scope of the protection of the present invention not be construed solely on the basis of the embodiment described above but is determined by a reasonable interpretation of the content of the following claims.

The careful clarification is made that the best method to carry out the invention is that which has been described in advance.

Claims

1. - Process of making edible fruit films, without additives, reconstitutable in water, obtained by dehydration; said process comprises the steps of:

- select the fruit that will serve as a base binder and sanitize it through an appropriate washing and disinfection process;

- pulp the fruit to leave only its pulp and original fiber, and grind it if necessary;

- filter the pulp of the fruit, making it pass through a screen or fine metal mesh to retain particles greater than 1.5 mm;

- mix the pulp until a homogeneous and stable product is obtained;

- rolling the homogenized product resulting from the mixture of the previous step, applying a uniform and constant layer thereof, on a silicone or other non-stick and heat resistant material, until a predetermined thickness is obtained, as the case may be;

- dehydrate the laminated product by exposure to direct solar radiation, at an average and constant temperature of 40 ° C ± 5, for a period of time necessary, until the content of its moisture is reduced to 8.8% ± 5, and obtain a value of _w less than 0.7 to preserve its physical and nutritional properties to the maximum; Y

- Cut and vacuum pack in polyethylene bag or metallized dehydrated product in pieces of predetermined dimensions and weight.

2. - The process of claim 1, further including a step to prevent the films obtained from adhering to each other once superimposed and packed in vacuum, spraying the films with a uniform layer of glycerin, mixtures of lipidium components or other non-stick agent, or through the superposition of some other physical agent such as a plastic film.

3. The process of claim 1, wherein other components are added to the filtered pulp, such as fruit pulps and / or previously treated vegetables, as well as nutraceutical or functional agents to enrich it.

4. The process of claim 3, wherein the previous treatment of the other fruits and / or added vegetables, consists of the washing, disinfection, peeling grinding and filtering thereof, as applicable.

5. The process of claim 3, wherein the added components that are added to the filtered pulp can be from 10% to 90% by total weight of the formulation, as the case may be.

6. - The process of claim 3, wherein the nutraceutical or functional agents can consist for example of: omegas, vitamins, pre-biotic, pro-biotic, protein or chia seeds (Salvia hispanica L) whole or ground.

7. - The process of claim 5, wherein the dose or amount of added nutraceutical or functional agents is included within the ranges of percentages of the total weight of the formula, which can range from 10% to 90% , including fruit and / or vegetable pulps.

8. - The process of claim 1, wherein the product is obtained in separate plates or roll, and then cut into desired measures.

9. The process of claim 1, in which prior to the dehydration step, thin slices of previously dehydrated fruit, strips of other fruit and / or vegetable films can be placed on the laminated pulp, enriched or otherwise. dehydrated or green leafy vegetables, to agglutinate in a single product two or more flavors.

10. - The process of claim 1, wherein the fruit selected as the base binder is Mangifera indica L

11. - The process of claim 1, wherein the physicochemical conditions of the selected fruit should preferably be within the range of 12 to 18 ° Bx, as well as an acid level between 0.50 and 0.70%.

12. - The process of claim 3, wherein the pulps of fruits and / or vegetables added are selected from fruits of optimal physiological maturity.

13. - An edible product obtained by the process of the preceding claims, which consists of a film reconstituted in water, made from a fruit selected as a base binder, and enriched with fruit pulps and / or previously treated vegetables, as well as nutraceutical or functional agents, where the selected fruit is Mangifera indica L.

14. - An edible film made of fruit, wherein said film has a moisture content close to 8.8% ± 5, and a value of a _w less than 0.70.

15. The film of claim 14, wherein the fruit selected as the base binder is Mangifera indica L

16. - The film of claim 14, which can include pulp of other fruits and / or vegetables in its formulation.

17. - The film of claim 14, wherein the percentage of the fruit selected can be from 10% and up to 90% when combined with other fruits and / or vegetables.

18. The film of claim 14, which is obtained by dehydration, and is reconstitutable in water.

19. The film of claim 14, wherein the packaged product contains an envelope with desiccant to avoid environmental wetting once the product is opened.