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3.1 Description of the Food Processing Flow Diagrams

3.1 Banana

A. Banana Chips

Peel banana skins and put them in cold water containing 0.05% Potassium metabisulphate (KMS) to prevent browning reaction. Cut into thin slices and keep in clean water. Spread them individually separated on the mosquito screen in the sun. Fry until slices are crispy. Set aside to cool. Pack in plastic bags. Seal each bag properly to ensure the shelf life.


Peeling banana skins, slicing and soaking

Frying until crisp, cooling, packing in plastic bag

3.2 Crab-Apple

A. Dried Crab Apple

Peel the fruit and wash in clean water, soak in 5% salt solution and drain off after one hour. Put into cool, boiled water and keep for half day, then drain off. Repeat this twice a day for three days. The following day, blanch for fifteen minutes and cut into quarters. Prepare a 2.5% salt solution and put with the pieces into clean jars or containers overnight, drain and sun dry in the daytime. Repeat this process until the products dry completely, then pack in dry and clean containers and close tightly before consuming.


Peeling crab-apple skins

Sun drying crab-apple pieces

B. Crab Apple Preserve

Peel the fruit and wash in clean water. Cut lengthwise into eight pieces and soak in 5% salt solution, then drain off after half an hour. Put into clean and cool boiled water and keep overnight, then drain off. The following day, prepare a 2.5% salt solution, soak slices for one hour and blanch for fifteen minutes at 100°C. Place sugar (50% by weight) in clean water and heat until dissolved. After filtering the sugar solution, mix with the product on a low, medium heat and stir continuously. When the set point has reached, cool down before packing.


Crab-apple soaking in the salt solution

Packaging the dried crab-apple pieces

3.3 Garlic

A. Dried Garlic

Garlic cloves are peeled and washed with a lot of water and then strained. The cloves are sliced, spread on a sieve tray and then dried in the dryer. Dried garlic slices are packed in polyethylene bag. The dried garlic is sold in various forms such as sliced granules or powdered and used as a spice mixture for sauce, soup mixtures, salad dressing, meat products and garlic salt.


Slicing the garlic cloves

3.4 Ginger

A. Ginger Pickle

Wash the ginger with plenty of water using a brush to remove all soil residues. Peel the ginger and again wash in clean water. Cut the ginger vertically in 2mm thick slices. Blanch the ginger in boiling water for 15 minutes and drain off the hot water. Repeat this process four times. Mix with 1 % salt, pack the mixture in a jar and pour the lemon juice (or vinegar) until the product is totally immersed. Keep it one week to become sour and the ginger turns to the color pink.

B. Ginger Preserve (Salty)

Wash the ginger with plenty of water using a brush to remove all soil residues. Peel the ginger and again wash in clean water. Cut the ginger vertically in 2mm thick slices. Blanch the ginger in boiling water for 15 minute and drain off the hot water. Repeat this process seven times. Mix with 10 % salt, dissolve and then put on the low, medium heat. Stir every now and then until salt crystals appear on the ginger. Move from the heat and cool it before packing.


After washing, the ginger is peeled

Stiring, cooking the ginger on a low/medium heat

C. Ginger Preserve (Sweet and Sour)

Wash the ginger with plenty of water using a brush to remove all soil residues. Peel the ginger and again wash in clean water. Cut the ginger vertically in 2mm thick slices. Blanch the ginger in boiling water for 15 minutes and drain off the hot water. Repeat this process seven times. Mix with 60 % sugar, dissolve and then put on the low medium heat. Pour two teaspoons of lemon juice for every one kilogram of ginger and stir every now and then until sugar crystals appear on the ginger. Move from the heat and cool before packing.


Blanching the ginger in boiling water for 15 minutes

Stiring continuously until sugar crystals appear on the ginger

D. Ginger Preserve (Sweet)

Wash the ginger with plenty of water using a brush to remove all soil residues. Peel the ginger and again wash in clean water. Cut the ginger vertically in 2mm thick slices. Keep in a lye solution for 30 minutes, then wash in clean water and keep in a saturated salt solution for 24 hours. Every eight hours, drain off the water and replace with fresh and clean water over two days. Blanch the ginger in boiling water for 15 minutes and drain off the hot water. Repeat this process seven times. Sugar (60% by weight) is dissolved in clean water, on a low, medium heat. When all the sugar dissolves, filter through a thin cloth and mix the ginger with the purified sugar solution, keeping for one day. The following day, when it has released its moisture, the ginger is taken from the sugar solution. Boil the sugar solution until the volume becomes half and move it from the heat and cool it. When the solution becomes cool, keep the ginger in it for one day. Repeat this procedure three times. After three days, the mixture is put on the low medium heat, stir continuously until the solution becomes thick and small sugar crystals appear on the ginger. Move from the heat and cool before packing.


After washing and peeling, the ginger pieces are cut

String continuously until small sugar crystals appear on the ginger

3.5 Lemon

A. Lemon Syrup

Ripe fruits are selected. After washing, peel and cut into halves. With the manual extractor the juice is separated from the skin and pips. Dissolve sugar (60% by weight) in clean water, boil for five minutes, stirring all the time; then filter the impurities from the sugar solution. Add the lemon juice and boil for two minutes. Move from the heat and fill the bottle while hot. Cooling, cleaning and labeling are the last operations before storage.


Washing and sorting the lemons before cutting into halves


Cutting the lemons into halves

Extracting the lemon juice

Filtering the lemon juice

Adding sugar solution to lemon juice

Bottling must be done while it is hot

Bottles are capped by using a capping machine

B. Lemon Preserve (Sour)

Blanch lemons for fifteen minutes and repeat this three times. Soak in boiled water for one day. The following day, drain off the water and dry in the sun dryer.


Blanching lemons for fifteen minutes

C. Lemon Preserve (Sweet)

Soak the lemons in the boiled water and drain off after 12 hours, repeat twice a day for three days. The following day, blanch and cut into quarters, soak in 5% salt solution for five days and drain. 100% by wt of sugar are melted, filtered, and then mixed with the lemon quarters for one night. The next day, lemon quarters are removed from the sugar solution and then the sugar solution is boiled on low, medium heat until the volume becomes half. The lemon is mixed with the syrup and placed on a low fire until all the water boils out. Move from the heat and cool down before packing.


The sugar solution is boiled until the volume becomes half

D. Lemon Pickle

Blanch the lemon for fifteen minutes and repeat this three times. Soak in the boiled water for one day. The following day, drain off the water and dry in the sun dryer. Roast the mustard seeds and grind. Cook the edible oil and cool down. The dried lemon is mixed with the sliced ginger, small piece of garlic, chili and spices. The product is cooled down before packing.


Roasting mustard seeds before grinding

Cooking in hot edible oil sliced ginger, and small pieces of garlic

Adding chili paste

Mixing with dried lemon and spices

Cooling the product before packing

3.6 Onion

A. Dried Onion

Onion varieties with pungent flavor are most appreciated, both colored and white onions may be used. After removing the tops, roots and outer skin, onions are washed carefully then cut at a right angle to the core of the onions. Blanching is not practiced, as the onion loses its flavor. The use of preservatives is not necessary: after cutting, the slices are spread evenly on the trays of a dryer.

The onions are dried when the ratio of prepared raw material to drier product is about 9:1 (moisture content 5%). The dried product may be ground to a powder, which tends to make clumps. The dryer used for onions must be reserved especially for onions.

3.7 Orange

A. Orange Syrup

The fruits are picked when fully ripe. After washing, the oranges are peeled and cut in quarters. With a manual extractor, the juice is separated from the skin and the pips. The juice is filtered through a fine mesh strainer and mixed with sugar at 50% of its weight. Heating to boiling point will allow the stabilization of micro-organisms which cause fermentation; any excess essential oil can be removed by skimming. Bottling and capping must be done while the juice is hot. Cooling, cleaning and labeling are the last operations before storage.


After washing, peel and cut the lemons

With manual extraction, the juice is separated from the skin and pulp

Filtering the orange juice

Orange juice is mixed with the sugar solution

Heating orange juice to near boiling point

The bottles are filled and capped while the juice is hot

B. Orange Marmalade

Sort the lemon and wash in clean water. Peel the orange and cut the peel into small pieces, and blanch them two times. Remove the seeds, then the orange pulp is placed on a low, medium heat until the volume becomes half. Mix white sugar 50% and boil it again with the orange peel and cooling down before packing.


After sorting and washing, the lemons are peeled

Cutting the lemon peel into small pieces

Removing the seeds

Blanching the peels

3.8 Papaya

A. Papaya Squash

Wash papaya and select ripe fruits. Peel the skin and remove the seeds. Remove the pulp of the papaya by using a hand operated extractor. Boil water and dissolve sugar up to 60–70%. Filter the impurities from sugar, cool the syrup mixture, add citric acid (two teaspoons per litre), and KMS (0.05%), then make a papaya puree thoroughly. Boil again, and pour the hot squash into sterilized glass containers and cap the bottles immediately. Sterilize at 95–98° C for 25 minutes. Apply a plastic seal to the cap to avoid leakage. Store in a cool and dry place.

B. Papaya Preserve

Peel the papaya and cut it into halves. Remove the seeds and slice into small pieces. Soak in a lye solution (1 tablespoon per litre water) for 30 minutes and wash in plenty of water. Blanch it for five minutes. Dissolve the sugar (35% by weight) in it and put on the heat. When it boils, add two teaspoon of lemon juice for every one kilogram papaya. Stir continuously on a low medium heat until sugar crystals appear. Move from the heat and cool down before packing.

3.9 Potato

A. Potato Chips

Peel off potato skins and put potatoes in cold water containing 0.05% KMS to prevent browning reaction. Cut into thin slices and keep in clean water. Put them individually separated on the mosquito screen in the sun. Fry in hot oil until slices are crispy. Set aside to cool. Pack in plastic bags. Seal each bag properly to ensure shelf life.



After washing, potatoes are sliced in clean water

Frying until potato slices are crispy

B. Dried Potato Slices

After sorting potatoes, wash, peel, and cut them into 2mm thick slices. For preservation purposes and in order to keep the color, blanching is carried out. Keeping on the bamboo sieve, the potatoes are dipped in boiling water containing 5 grams salt per litre of water, and 3 grams potassium metabisulphite per litre of water. Then drain and spread them on the trays of the dryer. The potato slices are dried when the prepared raw material/dried product ratio is about 10:1.


Spreading the potatoes slices on the dryer trays

3.10 Tamarind

A. Tamarind Ketchup

Wash tamarind in clean water, then boil in clean water and extract the tamarind puree. Mix with 10% sugar, 1 % salt and cook on medium heat. Then remove from heat and mix with the spices. Boil the edible oil and put sliced ginger, small pieces of garlic and chili and cool down the product before packing.

B. Tamarind Toffee

Remove the cover and clean the tamarind. After removing the seeds cut into small pieces. Grind the Jaggery 50% into small pieces. Mix them in a pot, add clean and sieved wheat flour 10% and 1 % salt and mix again. Make into pieces and coat with sugar powder. Each one is wrapped in cellophane paper. Pack in cellophane bags and then store in a dry place.

3.11 Tea

A. Dried Green Tea

In the Far East, green tea is essentially a small-holder's crop and its manufacture is a simple family occupation. The first stage in the production of dried green tea is to inactivate the enzyme whose action is fundamental to the preparation of black tea.

After plucking tea leaves, roast them in a shallow pan over a fire or steam the leaves. The duration of this operation varies from fifteen seconds to seven / eight minutes according to the method used. There follows a series of operations, pressing, rolling, and kneading the leaf to produce a mass with an uniform moisture content. Traditionally this process is done by hand or by simple apparatus. Interspersed with this procedure there is a half-hour resting step for the mass to mature, and then dry on a warmed screen above a stove, or by sun - drying. Finally desiccation is carried out in a rotary cylinder by using a current of hot air.


Sorting the green tea leaf material

Green tea leaves ready for teaming

Steaming the green tea leaves

Pressing and first rolling of the steamed leaves

Kneading and resting the rolled green tea leaves

Drying the green tea leaves

Second rolling of the green tea leaves

Sun drying of the green tea leaves

Drying/Desiccating the tea leaves in a rotary cylinder

Packing the dried green tea leaves

B. Pickled Tea

Pickled Tea is popular in Myanmar. Wads of the wet leaf are chewed, often mixed with fried garlic, roasted sesame, roasted peanut, and fried peas. After plucking, the tea leaves are roasted in a shallow pan, pressed, rolled by hand, and packed immediately into clay pots and compressed with a movable cover heavily weighted. After several months, the silage is removed, packed very tightly into woven bamboo baskets and transported to market. It is usual to make pickled tea during the monsoon rainy season and sun-dried green tea in the dry season.


After plucking, the tea leaves are roasted in a shallow pan

Pressing and rolling the tea leaves by hand

Rolled tea leaves are packed immediately into pots and compressed with heavy weights

3.12 Tomato

A. Dried Tomato

For the preparation of dried tomatoes, all kinds of tomatoes are used, but should always be fully ripe. Tomato pigments are stable, as they are rich in carotene. Therefore blanching and sulfiting is not commonly necessary, but sorting and cutting lengthwise is done to eliminate the liquid and the seeds, following washing. Empty the tomatoes, then cut them lengthwise into slices of 6 to 8 mm thickness and place them in a sun dryer. Slices of the same thickness then require the same drying time. The fruit is dry when the raw materials / dry product ratio is about 25:1. On an average 40gr.of dried products are obtained from 1 kg of fresh tomatoes. The yield depends on the dry tomato residue and the degree of drying.

The last operations before storage are cooling (half an hour at room temperature), packing and labeling. The product must be kept in a dark place to reduce infestation by insects.

B. Tomato Puree

Store the raw material in a shed until it is needed. Select the tomatoes according to their degree of maturity, use ripe tomatoes and eliminate those presenting signs of rot. Wash in clean water and drain. Extract the tomato juice, by removing seeds and skins using a stainless steel screen. Place the pot with juice on the heat and let it concentrate until it reaches 10° Brix, stirring with a wooden spoon every now and then to prevent the mixture from sticking. Once 10° Brix has been reached, add 1% salt, dissolve and remove the pot from the heat. Fill the bottles to the top with hot puree then add cover. Immediately close the containers with lids or corks.

Place the containers in water while they are still hot, making sure that the temperature of the water and that in the container is the same, to prevent the glass from breaking. The water must cover up to at least 2 fingers width above the bottles or jars. The water must come to the boil before calculating the time needed for sterilization. The time depends on the nature of the product and the size of the container.

SterilizationTime
 Size of Jar in Kg Sterilization Time (min)
 0.50 30 min
 0.75 40min
 1.00 50 min


The tomatoes are stored in a shed until they are used

The pulp is cooked in the pot until it reaches 10° brix

The tomatoes are cut into quarters

The pulp is cooked in the pot

C. Tomato Jam

Select ripe tomatoes according to their degree of maturity and wash in clean water and drain. Cut them into quarters, place in the pot and cook on a medium heat: stir with a wooden spoon every now and then. When the skin becomes soft, remove the pot from the heat. Remove the skins and seeds from the pulp with a bamboo or stainless steel sieve. Add sugar (60% by weight) dissolve and stir continuously. Add two teaspoons of lemon juice for every 1kg of tomato and stir again. Fill the jars and seal with the lids while the mixture is hot. Cooling, washing, and labeling are the last stages before storage.

D. Tomato Toffee

Select ripe tomatoes according to their degree of maturity and wash in clean water and drain. Cut them into quarters, place in the pot and cook on a medium fire: stir with a wooden spoon every now and then. When the skin becomes soft, remove the pot from the fire. Remove the skins and seeds from the pulp with a bamboo or stainless steel sieve.

Add sugar (40% by weight), dissolve and stir continuously. Add ghee (5 % by weight) and stir on a low-medium heat. When the mixture has reached the set point, move from the heat and continue stirring for two minutes. It is then poured into an alumininium tray coated with glycerin, which facilitates the later removal of the dried products. Press the surface smooth with a wooden roller, then the product is cut into 2 by 2 inch square. Each square is wrapped in cellophane paper, packed in a cellophane bag, then labeled and stored in a dry place.


Cooking until the tomato slices become soft

Mixing with 40% sugar and 5% ghees

E. Tomato Sauce

Select ripe tomatoes according to their degree of maturity, wash in clean water and drain. Cut them into quarters, place in the pot and cook on a medium heat: stir with a wooden spoon every now and then. When the skin becomes soft, remove the pot from the heat. Remove the skins and seeds from the pulp with a bamboo or stainless steel sieve.

Peel some garlic cloves and slice into quarters. Peel, wash and cut some ginger into small pieces. Then add chili powder (2.5 %), garlic, and ginger (5%) in the hot pulp to taste. Add sugar(20%), salt(2.5%) and vinegar (one teaspoon) and stir again. Increase the heat and boil for 45 mins, stirring continuously until 10–12 Brix is reached. Fill the jar or bottle with the hot sauce. Close the jars immediately with the lids and place in hot water while they are still hot, making sure the temperature of the water and the containers is the same, to prevent the glass from breaking. The water must cover the containers, which are sterilized in boiling water for 45 minutes, timed from the moment, which the water starts to boil. Remove the pot from the heat. Take the containers out of the pot and place them on a wooden board. As an alternate, let the containers cool in the pot until the next day.

F. Tomato Preserve

Sort the fully ripen tomatoes and wash in clean water. Remove the seeds; soak in 10% lye water for one hour wash in clean water and drain off. Place in a wide open pan and cook on low heat. Add 50% refined sugar and stir with a wooden spoon slowly every now and then. When the tomato becomes bright, add one teaspoon of lemon juice. Move from the heat and cool down. Dry on the bamboo sieve in the sun dryer for three or four days until the moisture is dried out and then pack.


Cooking tomatoes on a low heat

Drying the cooked tomatoes


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