Fruit & Vegetable Processing: Post-Harvest Handling, Canning, Juices, Jams, Jellies & Murabba - Food Science Technology | Agrigyan

Maturity standards for Coorg Mandarin (Citrus reticulata Blanco):

• Coorg mandarin is an important ecotype grown in the Western Ghats / Karnataka region.
• Optimal harvesting maturity is governed by the TSS-to-acid ratio; specifically, harvesting occurs when titratable acidity decreases to approximately $0.4\%$ (as citric acid) and total soluble solids (TSS) reach $12 - 14\%$.
• This gives a sugar-to-acid ratio of 30:1 or higher, providing superior palatable flavor and table quality.

Quarantine vapor heat disinfestation:

• Vapour Heat Treatment (VHT) is a mandatory phytosanitary disinfestation method used for tropical fruits (mangoes, papayas) destined for international export markets (e.g., Japan, USA).
• Air saturated with water vapor ($95 - 100\%$ RH) is circulated at $46.5 - 48^\circ\text{C}$ to raise the core temperature of fruit pulp.
• The thermal regime is engineered to achieve $100\%$ mortality of both the eggs (1) and internal larvae (2) of quarantine pests, particularly Oriental and Mediterranean fruit flies (Bactrocera dorsalis).

Horticultural crop variety identification:

• Banarasi, Kanchan (NA-4), Krishna (NA-5), Narendra Aonla-6 (NA-6), and Narendra Aonla-7 (NA-7) are well-known commercial cultivars of Aonla (Phyllanthus emblica).
• Sultana (Thompson Seedless) is a world-famous white, seedless grape (Vitis vinifera) variety widely used for raisin production, not an aonla variety.

Food preservation standard recipe for preserves (Murabba):

• In commercial and traditional preserve/murabba preparation from firm fruits like aonla, apple, and bel, the standard recipe employs an equal proportion of prepared fruit to sugar, i.e., $1 : 1$ by weight ($1\text{ kg}$ sugar per $1\text{ kg}$ pricked and blanched fruit).
• The sugar is infused in gradual stages until the final syrup reaches a minimum TSS of $68 - 70^\circ\text{Brix}$ and the fruit becomes translucent.