Improvement of the technology for enzymatic processing of fruits with visual defects

High content of free moisture and active enzymes in fresh fruits and vegetables determines their perishable nature and leads to significant losses during storage and transportation, reaching 56 thousand tons annually in the Kaliningrad region. Fruits with visual defects constitute a particular portion of these losses, as they are discarded despite retaining high biological value. This underscores the relevance of developing efficient technologies for their processing. This paper presents research on improving the technology for producing the functional food additive "VITUMIN" from lowgrade fruits by intensifying the bioconversion of raw materials through two-stage enzymolysis. The composition of the carbohydrase enzyme complex has been substantiated based on the polysaccharide profile of the source fruits (apples, bananas, oranges). The first stage involves treatment with cellulase and pectinase to disrupt cell walls and release biologically active substances (BAS); the second stage utilizes β-glucanase, Glucavamorin, and Alphalad BT to hydrolyze the released polysaccharides. Using mathematical modeling, we determined the optimal values for the first-stage factors: temperature 49°C, pH 3.8, and duration of 2 hours. The effectiveness of the developed scheme has been experimentally confirmed: the liquid fraction yield increased by 62.3%, the dry matter content by 15.7%, and the yield of the target additive increased by 7.9% compared to single-stage processing. IR spectroscopy data confirmed the profound degradation of the cellulose-pectin complex. The resulting additive is characterized by a high content of vitamins C (66.5 mg/100 g) and P (122.5 mg/100 g), meets the microbiological safety requirements of TR CU 021/2011, and is recommended for use in enriching traditional, functional, and specialized food products.

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