Important tips when quick freezing bananas

The increasing trend for fast, ready to eat products, has also made it possible for the frozen banana market to grow. The worldwide popularity of the fruit, along with growing demand from consumers for new and diverse products, has driven producers to come up with new alternatives and ideas. Beyond selling fresh bananas, they are being used for yoghurts, smoothies and ice cream but also for frozen snacks or deserts.

"The only way to achieve premium quality banana products for yoghurts, ice cream and snacks is by individually quick freezing the banana," said Carmen Popescu from OctoFrost Group. "The IQF freezing method is far superior to block freezing or any other freezing method, because it preserves the banana’s natural texture, smell, taste and nutrients while perfectly separating each piece or dice of product."

Popescu said that there are some important elements to keep in mind while individually quick freezing banana though; the banana is a difficult product to freeze, due to its sticky texture and high sugar content. The first step in achieving a good result is the selection of raw material. It is essential to choose good quality raw material, otherwise the final IQF banana will form lumps and surface defects. The raw material needs to have a firm texture and over ripe products should be removed prior to the freezing process. One single over ripe banana can destroy a whole batch, because the really sticky over ripe pulp will get stuck on the bedplate and thus ‘contaminate’ the other bananas.

After careful selection of the raw material, an adequate pre-treatment is necessary. Before slicing or dicing, the bananas should be pre-cooled and then dipped in a bath of ascorbic acid in order to prevent oxidation.

From the OctoFrost team’s experience, in order to achieve a premium IQF banana, the pre-cooling treatment should be done around the temperature of 0 degrees Centigrade and the ascorbic acid bath shouldn’t take more than a few seconds, otherwise there is a risk of coral formation. The infeed temperature is also important in order to get a top quality IQF banana – if the temperature is too high the separation of the IQF banana might get compromised.

"It is clear now that growing interest for a healthy diet will continue to increase the interest and consumption of IQF fruits and the banana is no exception." concluded Popescu.

For more information:
Carmen Popescu
OctoFrost Group
Tel: +46 42 33 22 60
Email: carmen.popescu@octofrost.com
www.octofrost.com