The project report includes Present Market Position and Expected Future Demand, Market Size, Statistics, Trends, SWOT Analysis and Forecasts. Report provides a comprehensive analysis from industry covering detailed reporting and evaluates the position of the industry by providing insights to the SWOT analysis of the industry.
India is known as the second largest fruits and vegetables producer in the world followed by China. India accounts for about 15 per cent of the world’s vegetable production. In the production of many fruits and vegetables, India is either first or second. However, fruits and vegetables being perishable in nature, get wasted to the tune of 20-30 per cent in the whole supply chain due to poor post harvest management. On the other hand, only 2 per cent of fruits and vegetables are processed in to value added products and the rest is consumed as fresh. Therefore, processing of fruits and vegetables offers immense scope for wastage minimization and value addition; thus can generate significant income and employment in Indian agrarian economy.
Fruits and vegetables are seasonal as well as perishable in nature. Dehydration of seasonal fruits and vegetables are good bet for long term storage even upto 5 years or beyond if hermitically sealed and can be made available to the consumers during off season. There is immense scope of market for certain popular and high value dehydrated seasonal fruits and vegetables.
It is estimated that 70-80 percent of the Indian apple growers market their produce via organized marketing channels and approximately 85-90 percent of this fruit is consumed fresh – while the rest is exported, processed, or wasted.(source GAIN report of USDA) As per the latest estimates, by Central Institute of Post Harvest Engineering and Technology (CIPHET), Ludhiana. Hardly 2 per cent of perishable horticultural produce is processed to value added products. Hence, there is huge scope for processing of fruits and vegetables. At the same time, there is market glut during harvesting season and farmers are forced to sell their produce at throw away prices. Therefore, food processing industries can help farmers to get sure income for their produce and also avoid market glut.
PROPERTIES
Composition of the Apple Fruit:
The composition of the apple fruit varies with variety, climatic conditions during the growing season, and the stage of maturity. The analytical values fall within the following ranges; total solids, 13.6 – 26.0; total sugars (as invert sugar) 9.5 – 17.4; glucose, 2.5 – 5.6; fructose, 6.5 – 11.8; sucrose, 1.5 – 6.0; acids (as malic acid), 0.3 – 1.0; and tannin, 0.02 – 0.15%.
Sugars constitute c.80% of the total carbohydrates of ripe fruits. Fructose is the principal component (c.60%), followed by glucose (25%) and sucrose (15%). Arabinose, xylose, sorbitol, a cyclitol, and two ketose oligosaccharides are present in minor quantities. Other carbohydrates present are starch, dextrins, pectic substances, cellulose, hemicellulose and and pentosans. Starch and dextrins are almost completely hydrolysed into sugars during the maturation of fruits after harvest; a part of the hemicellulose is also transformed into sugars. The cellulose conten, however, remains almost constant while there is a gradual decline in the amolunt of pentosans. Ripe and mature apples contain (av. values): pentosans, 0.50; lignin, 0.40; and cellulose, 0.90%.
The pectin content of the edible portion of eating and cooking apples varies from 0.14 to 0.96% (as calcium pectate). The pectin content of the peel is higher than that of the flesh and during the ripening of the fruit, protopectin is changed into soluble pectin. The amount of toal pectic materials remains fairly constant until the apples become over-ripe and mealy, when soluble pectic substances break down into non-pectic constituents. The uronic acid content of apple pectin varies from 0.5 to 15%.
