Do you know that you can eat leather too? Yes, it is true. Let me take you into the food world where leather is a delicious and healthy snack.You are already aware that fresh fruits and vegetables are rich in vitamins and minerals consequently having a greater value regarding health benefits. They own bounteous nutritious components like antioxidant compounds, laid back with tocopherols, anthocyanins, carotenoids and phenolic compounds. The reduction in the risk of cardiovascular diseases, cancers of pharynx, lungs, colon and heart stroke is highly associated with the more consumption of fruits and vegetables.
Fruit leathers are dried sheets of fruit pulp having a flexible, rubbery texture and a sweet taste.Processing of fruits in to the leather is the best approach for conserving and utilizing fruits.
Fruit leather is dehydrated product which ismade by pouring fruit pulp onto a smooth surface for drying. When dried, the fruit is scratched from the surface and cuts or rolled into different shapes. It gets the name “leather” from the fact that when the fruit puree is dried, it is shiny and has the texture of leather.
Different fruits are available in different season but, to enjoy great taste throughout the year with fruit leather is a unique and reliable choice. Seasonal fruits have become a mad dash of jamming, canning, pickling, freezing to preserve the bounty to enjoy throughout the year but these are older technique.
One thing you can do with fruits of the season is to make fruit leather as a great instantenergy snack pack for kids. Fruit leathers are nourishing and rich energy snacks for all age group. It is portable, making them pragmatic additions to school lunch boxes, during camping or hiking as back packs which is making fruit leather a good way to use fruit and slightly overripe fresh fruit. It can be used in pie fillings, as dessert topping and in many other ways.They can be used to make beverage by combining five parts of water with one part of leather in a food blender.
Fruits in the form of leather are rich in vitamins and minerals consequently having a greater value regarding health benefits so, farming industries and other community agencies are using dietary information to increase the fresh production.Consumers are becoming more conscious about their dietary patterns and are responsive about the reimbursement of brand new fruits regarding their health. Every year a huge amount of fruits are wasted due to poor management and post-harvest losses. These losses can be minimized through value addition and making different products like fruit leather, jam, jellies, squashes and various others.
The guava,mango, banana, apricot and tamarind leathers are among the most well-known. They may be eaten as snack foods which is a healthy alternative tosweets and also used as ingredients in the manufacture of cookies, cakes and ice cream. Fruit leathers are often targeted at the health food market, using marketing images such as pure”, sun dried”, and rich in vitamins”.
Traditionally, the unripe and green fruits are used for the preparation of curry, Raita, pickle, sauce, jam, jelly, candy or chutney but more specifically it can be used to develop leathers to make availability of functional ingredients for daily intake and to promote healthy snacking in society.
The advantages of making your own fruit leather is to use less or nosugarand to mix fruit with different flavors. Leftover fruit pulp after making jelly can be blended and made into fruit rolls. For the diabetic people, it is a healthy choice as snacks or desserts.
Quality and manufacturing cost are the key factors to keep in view while choosing a method for preserving food. The moisture reduction to a certain level keeps the product safe over absolute period of time thus, reduce storage and transportation cost .Traditionally, sun drying is the process employed for preparing fruit leather from ripe fruit pulp. However the sun-dried product is discolored, process is unhygienic and lengthy. Cabinet drying is best alternativefor making leather resulting into a product with improved color and flavor.
The preservation of fruit leathers depends on their low moisture content (15-25%), natural acidity of the fruit and high sugar content. When properly dried and packaged, fruit leathers have a shelf life of up to 9 months.
Fruit leather: very popular around the world but Not practiced in Pakistan. By processing of fruits in the form of leather will minimize post-harvest losses as well as this product is the excellent substitute of synthetic candies. In terms of Entrepreneurship, it is a good idea for starting as a business.Fruits and vegetables are produced during peak seasons but due to lack of preservation and storage facilities, the markets become overstocked during glut season and commodities get rotten prior to reach to the consumer.