Heavy rain makes "fruit freedom" a bubble? Black technology provides a plan B for eating according to the weather

This year, the "violent plum" season came. Heavy rains in some areas for several days swept cities and villages, causing the fruits that people longed for to fall from the trees prematurely, greatly affecting their quality and yield.

Will "fruit freedom" become a bubble? Recently, the reporter noticed that a microblog titled "New technology applied to watermelons" attracted the attention of netizens. More than 600,000 kilograms of watermelons in Jiangsu were almost killed in the storm. The local government cooperated with scientific research institutes in time and used a technology called HPP to turn fruit watermelons into "liquid watermelons". They were hot-selling on the market, and everyone said: technology can really change life.

Image source: Weibo screenshot

What is HPP technology? Can it become a "fruit savior" to save unsalable fruits? What principles does this technology use? Will it become the "top stream" in the juice industry in the future? The reporter interviewed a number of experts in the field of food processing and gave their interpretations.

HPP, a Plan B for those who rely on the weather for their living?

Xia Qile, an associate researcher at the Institute of Food Science of Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, told reporters that taking Zhejiang bayberry as an example, if extreme weather occurs frequently, squeezing fresh fruit into juice is currently a common solution. He said: "This method can effectively reduce the unsalable fruit caused by fruit defects and extend the shelf life of the fruit."

Source: Provided by the interviewee

This year, consumers have seen a new product in the market, HPP (High Pressure Processing) juice, which is a new technology that turns fruit into "fresh juice". The reporter learned that at present, whether it is online or offline channels, HPP juice, which is mainly a healthy drink, is selling well despite its high price.

Wu Xiaomeng, associate professor of the College of Food Science and Nutritional Engineering at China Agricultural University, introduced that HPP, or ultra-high pressure sterilization technology, is a non-thermal processing technology for food. It uses ultra-high pressure to kill microorganisms in food within a few seconds to a few minutes to achieve the purpose of preservation and sterilization.

"The ultra-high pressure can reach 500 MPa to 600 MPa, which is equivalent to the pressure that two adult elephants would withstand if they stepped on a coin at the same time, or 7-8 times the pressure that my country's Jiaolong would withstand when diving to 7,000 meters," Wu Xiaomeng explained.

Wu Xiaomeng explains to students the principles of ultra-high pressure and the instruments and equipment used in HPP technology. Source: provided by the interviewee

Previously, the more common juice products on the market were divided into fruit-flavored drinks, juice drinks, FC juice, NFC juice, etc. Xia Qile said that HPP juice is actually a newer processing technology that can add a protection plan for the agricultural sector that depends on the weather for its livelihood.

A bottle costs only a few dozen yuan, what makes it so “fresh”?

Searching a certain offline supermarket, a bottle of 750ml HPP fruit and vegetable juice is priced between 20 and 40, which is more expensive than traditional juice. Wu Xiaomeng believes that the main reason why it is more expensive is that the relevant production line and cold chain transportation costs are high, and currently, there are few factories that purchase the corresponding production line for processing.

Ultra-high-pressure NFC fruit and vegetable juice made by Wu Xiaomeng's students. This juice is only a student practice product and does not involve commercial use. Image source: provided by the interviewee

Wu Xiaomeng compared FC, NFC and HPP juices and concluded that FC juice, also known as concentrated reconstituted juice, is made by squeezing fruits into juice, evaporating water through heating and sterilizing to make concentrated juice that is easy to preserve. When needed, a certain amount of water is added to restore it to a juice drink. For fruits that are not suitable for heating, the original color, flavor or nutrients of the fruit may be destroyed. For example, vitamin C is heat-sensitive and easily decomposed at high temperatures.

NFC juice does not have a concentration and reduction process. When sterilizing the juice, pasteurization, high temperature and high pressure sterilization, ultra-high temperature instantaneous sterilization, etc. can be adopted, or HPP technology can be used.

"The HPP sterilization temperature is relatively low, and the taste is more like freshly squeezed fruit from a fruit store. It can better restore the aroma, taste, nutrition, etc. of the fruit. Generally speaking, the requirements for fruit raw materials processed by HPP technology will be higher." Wu Xiaomeng said.

"HPP juice has a longer shelf life than freshly squeezed juice, but compared with NFC and other juice drinks, it has higher storage and transportation requirements." Xia Qile reminded consumers that once they purchase HPP products, they must remember to refrigerate them to avoid bacteria re-breeding and causing the juice to deteriorate.

How to avoid misunderstandings in health food consumption?

Judging from the current food development rules, more and more people are pursuing healthier, original or more functional products. In this context, Wu Xiaomeng also put forward some consumption suggestions for everyone.

For example, some 100% fruit juices may not be NFC juices, but are made using a concentration and reduction process. The ingredient list of these juices will contain water and other additives. He reminded consumers that they can learn more about the ingredients of the juice by checking the ingredient list.

"At the same time, there is no need to get too hung up on the concept of 100%," Wu Xiaomeng said. "For example, mangoes have a relatively low water content. If you make a product purely from squeezed juice, it will be as thick as a milkshake."

At present, pre-prepared meals are hotly debated and considered by many people to be unhealthy and stale. Wu Xiaomeng told reporters that relevant experts are also studying how to use non-thermal processing technologies represented by HPP in more food categories to improve their quality and nutritional value.

"At present, the country has promulgated the first ultra-high pressure processing standard in the food field. By raising the entry threshold for enterprises and increasing supervision of corporate behavior, we hope to empower technology to achieve high-quality development in the food field." Wu Xiaomeng said.