Frozen bakery goods have seen renewed popularity in large part due to the high demand for food durability. With the hectic lifestyle of the average person, the reason for our frozen food preference is obvious. Frozen baked goods, when compared to traditional ones, have a longer lifespan. In addition, increasing disposable incomes means consumers eating habits have changed, further stimulating the frozen bakery market. Cakes, cookies, cupcakes, and other baked goods have crossed over from the traditional “after-dinner desert” to indulgent between-meal snacks. This increased spending and snacking are important factors that have contributed to the growth of frozen bakery items in the past several years.

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Bananas have been one of the most popular and consumed fruit worldwide for hundreds of years. It’s not surprising that this delicious fruit is a favorite among adults and children. They are a great choice for a quick power snack, being easy to digest for a quick energy boost. They also are low in cholesterol and fat, along with being important sources of potassium and fiber. These health benefits combined with low-cost and worldwide availability make it no surprise that the banana is so popular.

The big problem with this popular fruit? They spoil easily! This means the normal methods of refrigeration cannot maintain their original freshness and texture. With improper storage and moisture maintenance, regularly frozen bananas will clump together or become freezer burnt. That is where the IQF Banana comes in.

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Rice is one of the most popular items on the worldwide market. With the fast-growing market for ready meals, the demand for rice is expected to grow significantly between 2017 and 2022. Along with the growing market, comes the increasing number of rice varieties available. Wholegrain, wild rice, and black rice are some varieties that have gained popularity due to the growing trend for healthier meals. While the demand for rice and rice varieties is increasing, there is still the challenge of processing rice for freezing which needs to be addressed.

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Blueberries are a fast-growing product in high demand. From bakeries to your local supermarket, frozen blueberries have endless potential. They are often eaten fresh, frozen or juiced and also used in a variety of baked goods, jams, jellies and for flavorings. This berry is truly a superfood, containing several vitamins, beneficial plant compounds, and antioxidants. A low-calorie food that is also sweet to the taste, it is not surprising that the demand has increased. However, frozen blueberries present their own challenges. It is overcoming these challenges that create a high-quality product.

Health Benefits of Blueberries

Blueberries may have benefits for heart, brain, and blood sugar health. Studies have found a relationship between berries and improved heart health. They also suggest that blueberries have significant health benefits for people with high blood pressure. This is because blueberries inhibit oxidation of LDL cholesterol, a step in the heart disease process.

A higher intake of flavonoid-rich food is also associated with better brain function. Consuming blueberries can prevent oxidative stress, which plays a role in the aging process. They may also improve brain function directly. One study states drinking blueberry juice every day for 12 weeks improved memory in 9 older adults with early memory decline. Another six-year study found that blueberries and strawberries delayed brain aging by up to 2.5 years in older adults.
People with diabetes are sensitive to rapid changes in blood sugar. They need to be cautious when they eat foods rich in carbohydrates. Blueberries contain moderate amounts of sugar, but do not have adverse effects on blood sugar levels. This is due to their high content of bioactive compounds. In fact, blueberries can have beneficial effects on blood sugar control. One study found that two blueberry smoothies a day for six weeks helped improve insulin sensitivity in obese people who were at a high risk of developing diabetes. They may also affect blood sugar levels directly after a high-carb meal by blocking certain digestive enzymes and reducing blood sugar spikes.

Freezing Blueberries:

When freezing blueberries, the common challenges are with appearance, yield, and dehydration. For appearance, you want to avoid surface cracks and burns that occur due to slow freezing time and/or usage of metal belts. You also need to keep dehydration at a minimum, while keeping yield and profitability high. Washing and destemming are also common practices for blueberries.

After pretreating, the blueberries are ready for freezing. Because of the delicate nature of blueberries, it is imperative to choose the right freezing equipment if you want to preserve the natural appearance after freezing. The optimum result should be well separated, natural looking blueberries. High-quality IQF blueberries can be sold easily at a premium price.

Choose AFE

Achieve high quality with AFE. Together we can choose the best freezer and features that can contribute to a natural appearance, low dehydration, and high yield. While being highly hygienic, our freezers also have adjustable fan speeds for optimal airflow. The result is a gentle, but quick crust freeze with minimal snow formation. Minimal snow means less dehydration of the product, resulting in higher yield and more profit.

High efficiency, easy maintenance, and cleaning make our IQF Freezers the ideal choice. Our equipment is fabricated with stainless steel and expert welding for exceptional sanitation and durability. Each piece far exceeds industry standards for health, cleanliness, and energy savings to give you the best results for your business.

The Science Behind Freezing

Freezing is used as a preservation method for almost all foods. From fruits and vegetables to meat and seafood, freezing is a popular way to keep food fresh after harvesting. With an extended shelf life and more nutrients, frozen products are frozen when they have the most minerals and vitamins. However, what exactly happens when food is being frozen?

Chemical Changes

We all know that fruits and vegetables start to deteriorate right when they are harvested. Freezing happens right after harvesting to seal in the taste and texture of the product at its peak degree of ripeness. However, the chemistry behind this is a little more complicated. Fresh produce contains enzymes, which cause the loss of color, loss of nutrients, flavor changes, and color changes. These enzymes have to be inactivated to prevent these reactions.

For vegetables, enzymes are inactivated with blanching. Blanching exposes vegetables to boiling water or steam for a short period of time. Then the vegetable is rapidly cooled in ice water to prevent it from cooking. Blanching also helps destroy microorganisms on the surface of the vegetable and it makes some vegetables, like broccoli, more compact.

With fruit, the enzymes cause brown colors and a loss of vitamin C. Because fruits are normally served raw, they can’t be blanched like vegetables. Instead, these enzymes are controlled with chemical compounds that interfere with the enzymes. Ascorbic acid, vitamin C, is the most popular chemical used and can be used in its pure form or mixed with sugar. Soaking in dilute vinegar and a coating of sugar and lemon juice is another option.

Textural Changes

With fruits and vegetables, the textural changes have to do with water. Water makes up 70-90% of the weight of most fruits and vegetables. It and other substances are stored in the rigid cell walls which support the structure and texture of the product. When you freeze a fruit or vegetable, you are freezing the water contained in the cells. As the water freezes, it expands, and ice crystals cause the cells walls to rupture. This causes the texture to be much softer when it is thawed than when it was raw. This is why some vegetables, like celery and lettuce, are not usually frozen. In order to control the extent of cell wall rupture, you have to freeze the produce as quickly as possible. With rapid freezing, a large number of small ice crystals form compared to slow freezing which forms fewer larger crystals.Because of the soft texture when thawed, most frozen fruits are served when they are not completely thawed. In a partially thawed state, the effects of freezing are less noticeable. It is also less noticeable for products that are cooked before eating because cooking also softens cell walls.

Individual Quick Freezing

Don’t go for the one-size-fits-all approach. Individual Quick Freezing is the ideal choice for high-value produce. Your produce will maintain its natural appearance, texture, and color when frozen in an IQF Tunnel. An IQF Tunnel will not only lock in nutrients but also ensure the highest quality product that can be sold at a premium price. At AFE each piece of equipment is crafted with full dedication to hygiene, quality, and cleanliness. Fully Welded Stainless Steel enclosures will ensure the highest degree of sanitation in the industry and long-term durability.  Cleanliness and hygiene are critical considerations when it comes to food processing and preservation. Our IQF Tunnels can be fabricated using fully welded stainless steel panels or stainless steel clad panels that provide exceptional sanitation and durability. Each piece far exceeds the industry standards for health, cleanliness, and energy savings to give you the best results for your business. For any of your freezing needs, look to AFE for a wide variety of freezer and cooler products.

What Happens After Harvesting

We all know that once a vegetable is harvested, it begins to release heat and lose water in a process called respiration. This natural process has an impact on the nutritional qualities of the vegetables we consume. However, the real culprit behind the loss in nutrition is the time between quality control, transportation, handling, and the moment our vegetables reach the shelf. Once they are ready to buy and on our kitchen tables, our products may have already lost half of the original amount of nutrients.

From Tree To Table

Fruits and vegetables are major sources of macronutrients, like fiber, and micronutrients, like Vitamin C. They are often at their most nutritious when they are harvested at peak maturity. However, most people do not have home gardens capable of providing the recommended 5-13 daily servings year round. This is where supermarkets and distribution come into play. Fruits and vegetables grown locally may spend up to 5 days in transit after harvest before arriving at the distribution center to be processed. For fruits and vegetables grown in other countries, this time varies from a few days if transported by air freight to several weeks if sent by refrigerated ship. Once at the store, your food may spend 1-3 days on display before being purchased by the customer, who then may store them up the 7 days before consumption. This amount of time from harvest to consumption can mean significant nutrient degradation.

The Argument For Freezing

Most fruits and vegetables are composed of 70–90% water. Once separated from their tree, plant, or vine, they undergo higher rates of respiration, resulting in moisture loss, quality and nutrient degradation, and potential microbial spoilage. This often depends on the particular nutrient, the commodity, and the postharvest handling, storage, and home cooking conditions. In an attempt to keep food fresh for longer, canning, freezing, pickling, dehydration, fermentation, and other methods of preservation are carried out. Their goal is to deliver processed products that are safe and retain desirable quality attributes similar to fresh products. Freezing is the most simple and natural way of preserving vegetables. In fact, studies show that frozen fruits and vegetables have just as many nutrients as fresh ones. Enzymes in fresh fruits and vegetables cause loss of color, flavor, and nutrients as soon as they are harvested. This reaction can be stopped when food is frozen. Freezing deactivates the enzymes responsible and locks in nutrients inside the vegetables. The fruits and vegetables are able to keep the same amount of nutrients for a longer period of time.

Freezing and Vitamin C

Still not convinced? Take into account Vitamin C. Both water-soluble and sensitive to heat, light, and oxygen, Vitamin C is susceptible to loss during home cooking and thermal processing. This makes perfect as an index of nutrient degradation. When fresh products undergo minimal storage and are handled at proper temperatures, they have high amounts of vitamin C. However, after harvest, this vitamin quickly degrades. This continues during storage as Vitamin c losses in vegetables stored at4°C for 7 days range from 15% for green peas to 77% for green beans. However, if these products were frozen, then their Vitamin C loss would be lower. Influenced by the particular commodity along with the blanching and freezing conditions, frozen fruit and vegetables were found to have little nutrient change if storage temperature was well maintained.

IQF Freezing

The most popular freezing method for vegetables worldwide is the IQF freezing method. With the growing demand for frozen foods, consumers have become more particular about the quality of the frozen food they buy. They not only want the frozen items to retain all their nutrients, but they also want the natural appearance, taste, texture, color, and shape of the products to be preserved as well. The way you treat your products is critical to the quality and safety of each finished product. Choosing the right industrial refrigeration equipment streamlines your process for higher quality, healthier products.Processing and preserving vegetables properly is essential to creating delicious, fresh, and safe products for your customers. From spinach processing to vegetable product freezing, you can look to AFE for a wide variety of freezer and cooler products to meet your specific commercial cooling needs. As for fruit and products created with fruit, they can be very delicate. Without proper processing, these products spoil rapidly or can become contaminated. Look to us for a wide variety of exceptional quality equipment to keep your fruit and fruit products cool during processing, or frozen after creation. From space-saving design to site-built equipment for higher product needs, we can help you find the equipment that is right for your needs.