Processing technology of high quality dried apricot in South Xinjiang

In order to reduce the production cost, simplify the production process and improve the commodity value, a new simple process for making high quality dried apricot is introduced.

I. process flow chart

Raw material → selection graded → cleaning → drying → fumigation → drying agent soaking → Arbor drying → sorting package.

II. Production procedure

1. Selection of materials

Select varieties suitable for drying with large fruit, thick pulp, less juice, enucleation, high sugar content and meticulous pulp as raw materials.

two。 Selection and grading

When the apricot reached 7: 8 maturity, the varieties were picked by hand and put into the basket according to the size of the fruit.

3. Cleaning

After grading, rinse the apricot fruits with clean tap water.

4. Dry

Drain the washed apricot fruit and dry it in a shady place.

5. Fumigated sulfur

Put the dried apricot fruit into a flat basket, spray a small amount of 3.5% salt water (anti-discoloration), send it to the smokehouse, put it on a wooden smoking rack in layers, then pour the burning wood carbon into an indoor iron plate, or in a hole dug in the middle of the smokehouse, and then sprinkle sulfur powder on the charcoal fire, the amount of sulfur powder is about 0.4% of the weight of fresh apricot, move quickly, and immediately leave the door sealed with a felt to avoid poisoning. For about 2-3 hours, when the fruit is yellow and translucent, open the door and ventilate the smell of sulfur. After the air is fully changed, immediately park the apricot outside for 1-2 hours to dry.

6. Drying agent soaking

After drying the fumigated apricot fruit for 1-2 hours, soak the apricot fruit in 2% drying agent solution for 5 minutes, remove and drain the water droplets. This method can shorten the drying time of 3 times 4 compared with the common traditional method.

7. Drying in the Arbor

To make a cuboid scaffolding, the scaffolding should have several layers of partitions, and the sides and tops of the scaffolding should be covered with a single layer of gauze, so that it can be ventilated and protected from direct sunlight, so as to prevent the analysis of sugar in apricot fruits from blackening, adhesion and not easy to dry, resulting in wrinkles, poor appearance and color, reduced sugar content and reduced grade of dried apricots. Put the soaked and drained apricot fruit neatly in a shallow basket covered with tulle, and then put the shallow basket on the partition of the scaffolding, layer by layer, and move the scaffolding to the open space. Apricot fruits in the process of drying, pay attention to timely change the apricot baskets above and below the scaffolding, so that the once sent apricot fruits are ventilated and heated evenly, dry at the same time, and go out of the shelf at the same time to improve the utilization rate of the scaffolding. This method can be dried in the shade in 3-4 days, which is about 16-17 days shorter than the traditional method, and the work efficiency is increased by 5-6 times.

III. Packaging and storage

The main purpose of dried apricot packaging is moistureproof and moth-proof. Generally, it can be packaged with polyethylene plastic film which can prevent moth and has good isolation performance to water vapor, or choose transparent composite film packaging, or can be packed into cartons, wooden boxes or gunny bags to avoid ventilation. The storage place should be dry and clean, and the bottom should be padded high to avoid moisture regain.

Fourth, the quality and the degree of input-output of dried apricot made by the new technology is the key technology, which is too dry, the pulp is dry and hard, the apricot fruit is small, wrinkled, the appearance is poor, the taste is not good, and the grade of apricot fruit is affected; if it is too wet, the syrup is easy to ooze, the appearance is black, the food is easy to stick to the teeth, and it is easy to mildew, corrupt and deteriorate. The appropriate degree of dryness should be 15%-18% of water content, when they do not stick to each other, no sugar juice exudates, leave the core, do not stick to teeth, apricot fruit is golden yellow, fruit shape is plump, the meat is thick and soft, and the taste is comfortable and sweet. At present, the best fresh apricot on the market is 1 yuan / kg, 4 kg fresh apricot gives 1 kg dried apricot, and dried apricot is 14 yuan / kg. If dried fresh apricot is made, the economic benefit can be increased by 10 yuan per kg dried apricot, while the total material, labor and other costs required for processing 1 kg dried apricot are less than 1 yuan, that is, the input-output ratio of processing 1 kg dried apricot can reach 1 ∶ 9.