Dried Mango Production
Dried tropical fruits.
Mango is one of the abundant fruits in the Phlippines. It is good to eat because it has a high nutritional value. Mangoes are found everywhere particularly in Mindanao areas. In Cebu city, Talamban has a big Mango plantation area. Other firm has a contract growers, they finances the cost of spray and labor until it can be harvested. One of the advantagesof having a contract grower is that, it can be assure that freshly harvested mangoes are handled properly and defects or bruises are minimize. Many people loves to eat this kind of fruit even if the price is too high. Sometimes, it cost 60 pesos per kilo. Only middle class consumers can afford to buy.
In the production of dried mangoes, first to be consider is the raw materials. It should be monitored properly. All the needed materials will undergo laboratory testing and recorded with a signature of the quality analyst and approved signature of the QA supervisor or manager.This is a Standard Operating Procedure. High brix fruits will be forwarded to the liquid production area to convert it to either purees or juices. However, the low brix will be seperated also from the good one. So this is the time where the analyst decide how many kilograms of SR(a code name) to be added per tank. QA will inform the operator or supervisor in charge how much.The ingredients per batch should be doubled check by the QA: the GLUCOSE, SO2, SYRUP and SUGAR. The volume depends on the capacity of the tank. One thing also to remember, there should be an on-line form both in production and laboratory for documentation purposes. Production workers should be reminded about the control critical points to minimize troubleshoot. Inorder to have a low man-power costing. Laboratory adjustment per batch is one of the critical thing, if analyst is not good on the computation or doing ratio and proportion it may lead to unconsistent quality or delayed of the production. Analyst shoud be smart enough and precise on its results.
When the desired soaking period attained, so it will be then oven dried at 50-75C for a couple of hours. Desired moisture content of the product should be monitored. % MC leads to a high or low percent recovery.In packing of finished product, room temperature is cosidered. See to it also the packers should follow the Good Manufacturing Practices to prevent high risk of microorganisms comes into the product. Stoarage area of packed product should be free from dirt and pest. To ensure the safety of the product, pest controller will take charge inorder also to prolong shelf life of the product.
Dried mango production is easy if company follows the standard operating procedure. It helps a lot to produce a good quality and competitive in the market. Nowadays, dried mango processor compete on its quality attributes. The texture and flavor may be brittle, flaky, chewy, tough, fibrous, high acid, tasteless, candied or smell burnt. It is neccessary to evaluate finished product inorder to know if the product is acceptable to the consumers.
