Tomato Products - FOODZAQ

Hello friends, Welcome back to my blog FOODZAQ. Today I am going to discuss about Tomato products. Fresh tomatoes are highly refreshing and appetizing. They are good source of vitamins particularly vitamin c. Tomatoes are processed in to number of products like tomato juice, tomato puree, tomato paste and tomato ketchup. 

The quality of a tomato product is judged by redness of tomatoes. High quality tomatoes product can be prepaid by ripened and uniformly red tomatoes. Using of yellow and greenish tomatoes are mask the red color, but also cause browning due to oxidation. during preparation of tomato products, avoid prolonged heating or cooling of the product quickly after preparation and not using Fe and Cu.

TOMATO JUICE

Tomato juice is consumed as break fast drink. The varieties with deep red color and high soluble solids are selected for juice extraction. A good quality juice should be of deep red color, passes the characteristics taste & flavor. Tomato juice should contain not less than 5% total soluble solids, mold count not more than 30% according to FSSAI specifications. Salt, sugar, citric acid and ascorbic acids are the permitted additives in tomato juice.

processing of Tomato juice

1. Selection of fully ripened and red tomatoes.
2. Washing.
3. Sorting and Trimming.
4. Cutting and Chopping.
5. Heating at 70-90C for 3 to 5 minutes.
6. Pulping or Extraction of juice.
7. Addition of salt, sugar and citric acid.
8. Homogenization.
9. Heating at 82-88C for 1 minutes.
10. Filling in to bottles or cans.
11. Processing in boiled water foe 30 minutes.
12. Cooling.
13. Storage at ambient temperature.

The tomatoes are washed thoroughly  by using rotary washer fitted with soft roller brushes, because mold filaments and other micro organisms found in cracks, wrinkles, folds and stem are not destroyed.

Washed tomatoes are sorted manually or by carrying on abroad, slow moving belt. trimming is carried out to remove yellow, green, portions and stalk.

Addition of 1% salt, sugar and citric acid is done. Then homogenization is done to retard separation of liquid from pulp and to give thick consistency & uniform appearance. It is heated to about 66C and 70kg/cm2 pressure for homogenization process.

Tomato juices or pulp can be extracted by hot or cold pulping. Hot pulping is superior than cold pulping

TOMATO PUREE

Tomato puree means unfermented product which capable of fermentation, obtained by concentrating the juice of sound ripe tomatoes to the desired concentration. Tomato juice or pulp having not less than 9% tomato solid is called tomato puree. If it is not less than 12%, it is called heavy puree and not less than 9%, it is called medium puree.

Concentration of tomato juice may either done by open cooking or by vacuum cooking. In the former, most of the vitamins are destroyed & the product become brown. On the other hand, use of vacuum pans help to preserve the nutrients and also reduce browning to a great extend. In vacuum pans, juice is boiled at about 71C in only reduces pressure.

After cooking. if the total solid content of the juice is higher than the required, more juice is added to lower it. If it is lower, cooking is continued till desired concentration is reached. The end point of cooking puree can be determined by hand refractometer. fill in hot condition of 82-88C and sterilize in boiling water for 20 minutes.

TOMATO PASTE

Tomato paste means unfermented product, which is capable of fermentation. It is obtained by concentrating the juice of sound ripe tomatoes to desired concentration. Tomato paste must have not less than 255 tomato solids. If it is further concentrated so as to contain 33% tomato solids, it is called tomato paste concentrate. Initial concentration up to 15% tomato solids is done by open cooking and further concentration is by vacuum. 

processing of Tomato paste

1. Tomato paste
2. Concentration
3. Heating up to 190F
4. Fill in can
5. Sealed
6. Processing in boiling water for 15 minutes.

TOMATO SAUCE / KETCHUP

Tomato ketchup and tomato sauce means the product prepared by blending tomato juice or paste or puree of approximate concentration with nutritive sweeteners, salt, vinegar, spices and condiments. Then heating to get desired concentration. Tomato paste may be used after dilution with water suitable for the purpose of maintaining essential composition of the product.  It shall meat the following :

• Total soluble solids = Not less than 25% salt free basis.
• Acidity as acetic not less than 1%.

processing of Tomato sauce / ketchup

1. Tomatoes.
2. Washing
3. Sorting & Trimming
4. Cutting & Chopping
5. Heating at 70-90C for 3-5 minutes.
6. Extraction of juice or pulp.
7. Straining tomato pulp or juice.
8. Cooking pulp with 1/3rd quantity of sugar.
9. Putting spice bag in pulp and pressing occasionally.
10. Cooking 1/3rd of original volume of pulp or juice.
11. Removal of spice bag after squeezing in pulp.
12. Addition of remaining sugar and salt.
13. Cooking
14. Judging of end point by using hand refractometer.
15. Addition vinegar and preservative.
16. Filling hot sauce in to bottle at 88C.
17. Crown corking.
18. Pasteurization at 85-90C for 30 minutes.
19. Cooling
20. Storage at ambient temperature.

BLACK NECK FORMATION

Sometime a black ring is formed on the surface of ketchup in the neck of bottles. It is due to the oxidation of Fe compounds which get in to ketchup from boiling equipment. When Fe comes in to contact with spice tannings, it forms ferrous tannate which on oxidation forms ferric tannate. This deterioration can be minimized or overcome by using all stainless steal equipment in manufacture of tomato ketchup, filling the product at 88C., leaving very little head space and immediately sealed.  

Guys, Thank you for reading my blog FOODZAQ. I hope you should understand about tomato products in detail. If you have any doubts or query please feel free to comment below. If you like this blog, you can check my previous blogs related to food science as well. Thank you again. Have a nice day.