3. Preamble to the Description: Development of the process for 'Amla Salt Candy' from Amla (Emblica officinalis Greath)

(Complete Specification)

Complete Specification

The present invention relates to a process for the preparation of 'Amla Salt Candy' based on Indian Gooseberry, Amla (Embillica officinalis Greath). The formulation prepared by this method described herein is in the form of dried pieces of Amla with salt and spices. The product is in the form of dry pieces and can be stored for
about three months after suitable packing. The composition of tray dried amla pieces has
vitamin C (115.47 mg/100g), acidity (0.25%), total polyphenols (0.10%), tannins (0.11%), total sugars (1.88 %). The composition of freeze dried aonla pieces was vitamin C (223.68 mg/100g), acidity (0.29%), total polyphenols (0.14%), tannins (0.23 %), total sugars (2.13%).

The process involved in the preparation of 'Amla Salt Candy' based on Indian
Gooseberry comprises the following:

a). Washing of fresh Indian Gooseberry fruits (Amla) with water

b). Deseeding of Indian Gooseberry to remove seeds

c). Cutting the deseeded Indian Gooseberry manually into small pieces to facilitate better absorption of Salt (Sodium Chloride) and other ingredients

d). Soaking the cut Indian Gooseberry in 12% salt concentration, 7.09 % spices concentration, 4.30 (v/w) solution to fruit ratio, and 84.15 minutes process time in order to absorb the spices and salt from osmotic solution.

e). Draining off the osmotic solution from osmotically dehydrated fruits

f). Tray drying / freeze drying of the dehydrated fruits to 10% moisture

g). Packing of the product for marketing

Description:

Amla (Emblica Officinalis Gaertn.) is rich in vitamin C and total polyphenols. Due to high acidity and astringency it is not considered as a common table fruit, moreover the fruit is highly perishable. Hence the value added spices incorporated amla pieces are being developed to increase the shelf-life and to have high consumer acceptability. The optimization of osmotic dehydration process of amla slices in brine solution containing spices (cumin powder, fenugreek powder, fresh ginger extract) was done using response surface methodology; the experiments were conducted according to the Box-Behnken design. The independent process variables for osmotic dehydration are salt concentration (4-12%) w/v, spices concentration (3-9%) w/v, solution to fruit ratio (3-5) v/w and duration of (60-90) minutes at room temperature. The osmotic drying process was optimized for maximum water loss, solute gain, overall acceptability and minimum percentage of acidity and loss of vitamin-C. The optimum conditions were 12% salt concentration, 7.09 % spices concentration, 4.30 (v/w) solution to fruit ratio, and 84.15 minutes process time. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed that, among the process variable, salt concentration, process duration and spices concentration has the most significant effect on water loss, solute gain, acidity and overall acceptability; process time has the most effect on vitamin-C loss and acidity whereas solution-to-fruit ratio observed significantly lower effect on all the responses. The osmotic dehydration of
Amla slices was carried out at the optimum conditions, the partially dehydrated Amla slices were dried in tray drier and freeze drier till 10% moisture content. The freeze dried sample retained more vitamin C (223.68mg/100g) when compared to tray dried sample (115.47 mg/100g).The freeze dried sample retained its color; browning was observed in tray dried sample. During the storage study, conducted for 20 days there was no significant changes observed in both the samples. The dried sample can be stored up to 3 months irrespective of the drying methods.

Amla is a rare example of an edible fruit, which is rich in tannins as well as ascorbic acid. Amla possesses the highest level of heat and storage-stable Vitamin-C known to man. Pectin and minerals like iron, calcium and phosphorus are also found abundantly in the fruit. It is a potent antioxidant, antibacterial, antiviral and antacid. It is a very powerful anti-inflammatory herb. Dried fruit is useful in curing many disorders from ancient age.

Background of Invention:

Amla is presently underutilized fruit, but it has enormous potential in the world market. It is almost entirely unknown in the world market and needs to be popularized. Its medicinal and nutritional properties and culinary uses need to be highlighted. Production of more and better Amla fruit alone is not enough. This nutritious fruit must be delivered to the ultimate consumer through post-harvest system without and nutritional and quality loss.

The fresh Amla fruits are generally not consumed as it is highly acidic and astringent; therefore it is not so popular table fruit. But, it has got great potential in processed forms. Moreover, 17% or more of the produced fruits are lost during transport, storage and marketing. Hence attention has been focused on the preparation of different value added products from Amla. Amla can be made into various products such as pickles, preserves (murabba), sauce, jam, jelly, dried chips, tablets, etc. In this invention, we developed a process to prepare 'Amla Salt Candy' to utilize the fruit in an effective and fruitful manner.

Amla Salt Candy - Process flow chart

Amla

i Pre-treatment

i Osmotic Dehydration <— Ingredients

I Draining

I Tray or Vacuum - Freeze Drying

Packaging

I Storage Fruit preparation:

The Fresh Amla fruits procured from the market were washed well with running water. The seeds of the washed fruits were removed manually. The deseeded fruits were cut into cubes / pieces manually. A deseeded fruit is cut into 6 segments and each of the segments is cut into 5 equal pieces, thus yielding 30 cubes / pieces per deseeded fruit. The size of each cube / piece ranges from 7mm length and 4 mm thickness. Solution preparation:
Salt (Sodium Chloride) is dissolved in distilled water at room temperature. For different samples the salt concentration and the ingredients are varied. The various types of ingredients selected for solution preparation are fennel powder, cumin powder, ginger concentrate and dry ginger powder.

Osmotic Dehydration:

The cubed Amla pieces were soaked in the above solution containing salt 4-12% w/v, spices concentration 3-9% w/v, solution to fruit ratio (3-5) v/w for duration of 60-90 minutes at room temperature in a glass jar. The glass jar is closed with an air tight cap, to avoid contact with the atmosphere. The optimum percentage of salt is absorbed from the solution along with other spices. After that, the soaked Amla cubes are drained off from osmotic solution which are showed in (Plate no: 1). After the osmotic dehydration of
Amla cubes, decrease in weight is noticed.

Plate 1 Osmotically dehydrated Amla pieces under optimized experimental conditions

Drying and packaging:

The osmotically dehydrated Amla pieces are dried in tray drier to 10% moisture content as shown in plate No 2. The final products were packed in low density polyethylene (LDPE) material with a thickness of 0.05mm. The packages were heat-sealed and were kept in tight plastic container to conduct storage studies at room temperature. The plastic container is avoided to have direct contact with the Sun.

Details of the product:

The process parameters for 'Amla Salt Candy' by osmotic dehydration technique was optimized as follows: Osmotic solution of salt having concentration in the range of 4 to 12%, spices concentration 3 to 9%, solution to fruit ratio 3 to 5 and process time 60 to 90 minutes. The regression equations obtained in this study can be used for optimum conditions for desired responses within the range of conditions applied in this study. Graphical techniques, in connection with RSM, aided in locating optimum operating conditions, which were experimentally verified and proven to be adequately to be reproducible. Optimum solutions by numerical optimization obtained was 12% salt concentration, 84.15 minutes process duration, 4.30 v/w solution to fruit ratio and 7.09% spices concentration to get maximum possible water loss, solute gain and overall acceptability, to gain minimum Vitamin-C loss and acidity. The model equation for the response variables predicted values under the identified optimum conditions, which were experimentally verified to be in general agreements with the model. The optimized Amla pieces contain 339.90 mg/100g of Vitamin C, 1.16% acidity, 2.76% total sugars, 0.22% tannins and 0.19 % total polyphenols.

The optimized samples were tray dried and freeze dried. The composition of tray dried Amla pieces was Vitamin-C (115.47 mg/100g), acidity (0.25%), total polyphenols (0.10%), tannins (0.11%), and total sugars (1.88 %). The composition of freeze dried Amla pieces was Vitamin-C (223.68 mg/100g), acidity (0.29%), total polyphenols (0.14%), tannins (0.23 %), and total sugars (2.13%). The freeze dried sample retained its color and glassy in appearance with negligible shrinkage whereas tray dried sample lost its color with considerable shrinkage. The overall acceptability is maximum in freeze dried sample.

During the storage studies for 20 days there was no significant change in the chemical composition of tray dried and freeze dried Amla pieces. But bacterial, yeast and mould contamination was observed during storage, the microbial count was in the acceptable range. The dried Amla pieces can be stored up to 90 days irrespective of the drying method.

Claims:

We Claim

1. A process for the preparation of Amla Salt Candy based on Indian Gooseberry with spices which involves the following steps.

a. Washing of fresh Indian Gooseberry fruits (Amla) with water and deseeding

b. Cutting the deseeded Indian Gooseberry manually into small pieces to facilitate better absorption of Salt (Sodium Chloride) and other ingredients

c. Soaking the cut Indian Gooseberry in 12% salt concentration, 7.09 % spices concentration, 1: 4.30 (v/w) solution to fruit ratio, and 84.15 minutes process time in order to absorb the spices and salt from osmotic solution and retaining maximum Vitamin-C in processed Amla Candy.

d. Draining off the osmotic solution from osmotically dehydrated fruits

e. Tray drying / freeze drying of the dehydrated fruits to 10% moisture and
Packaging of the final product for marketing

2. A process as claimed in claim 1, wherein a salt concentration range between 4-12% w/v is used for osmotic dehydration

3. A process as claimed in claim 1, wherein a spices concentration range between 3-9% w/v is used for osmotic dehydration

4. A process as claimed in claim 1, wherein a solution to fruit ratio of 1:3 to 1:5 w/v is used for osmotic dehydration

5. A process as claimed in claim 1, wherein a duration range between 60-90 minutes is taken for osmotic dehydration.

6. A process as claimed in claim 1, wherein maximum vitamin C is retained (223.68 mg/lOOg) in processed Amla by freeze drying and 115.47mg/100g in tray drying.

7. A process as claimed in claim 1, wherein maximum tannin is retained (0.23%) in processed Amla by freeze drying

8. A process as claimed in claim 1, wherein the cut Amla pieces (Indian Gooseberry) are soaked in 12% salt concentration, 7.09 % spices concentration, 1: 4.30 (v/w) solution to fruit ratio for 84.15 minutes process time for absorbing the optimum spices extract and salt from osmotic solution and retaining maximum Vitamin-C in the processed Amla Salt Candy.

9. A process for the preparation of Amla Salt Candy comprising extract of spices as substantially described herein in the accompanying Specification.