Detailed Explanation of the Production Process for Multi-Flavor Green Apricot Plums

Multi-flavor green apricot plums are a sugar-preserved product made from green apricots as the main raw material, processed through salting, licorice compound liquid immersion, coloring, and sugar curing. The product is sour, sweet, salty, and fragrant, with a unique flavor. It is an important raw material for making assorted preserved fruits, and is also an indispensable decorative and garnishing food for fillings in mooncakes and other pastry foods. The main raw material used in processing this product - green apricots - is harvested when the apricot fruit is 5 to 6 ripe. Windfall fruit or later-stage thinning fruit can be used, greatly reducing processing costs and improving the economic benefits of fruit growers. This project is simple to process, and the technology is easy to master. Township processing enterprises, orchard farms, or fruit tree specialist households can all produce it on their own.

I. Process Flow

Raw materials → sorting → washing → salting → pitting → desalting → sulfur treatment → licorice compound liquid immersion → sugar curing → baking → inspection → packaging

II. Key Technical Points of the Process

1. Raw material requirements: For making green apricot plums, the green apricots should be harvested when they are 5 to 6 ripe, the apricot pit has hardened, and the apricot skin begins to turn brown. Raw materials with small pits and thick flesh, and apricot fruit diameter above 2 cm, are required. Remove defective, scarred, overly immature, or rotten apricots, and handle them separately.

2. Salting treatment: Prepare a salt solution at a concentration of 14% to 16%, and add 0.5% alum, stirring evenly. Pour the sorted and washed green apricots into the mixed solution so that the brine submerges the green apricots. To ensure the green apricots absorb salt evenly, stir once a day. After about 6 to 8 days of salting, once the green apricots are fully salted, scoop the apricots into bamboo baskets, drain the water, and prepare for pitting.

3. Pitting: When pitting, place the apricot seam facing up, gently press with a wooden board or use a pit-pressing machine to separate the pit, or gently tap with a wooden hammer to separate the pit from the flesh. Be careful not to damage the integrity of the apricot cup when pressing the pit.

4. Desalting treatment: The pitted apricot cups should be soaked in clean water to desalt. During soaking, change the water once every 3 to 4 hours. Generally soak for 12 to 24 hours. When the salt content of the apricot cups is 1% to 2% and the salty taste has become mild, scoop them out, drain the water, and set aside.

5. Sulfur immersion: Prepare a sulfite solution containing 0.15% to 0.2% sulfur dioxide. Pour in the desalted apricot cups and soak for 8 to 12 hours. After scooping them out, rinse once with clean water, drain the water, and bake or sun-dry until half-dry.

6. Licorice compound liquid immersion: (1) Preparation of licorice compound liquid: The amount and ratio of immersion liquid per 100 kg of green apricot cups: licorice 2.5 kg, refined salt 6.5 kg, citric acid 200 g, cinnamon, clove, cardamom, and fennel powder 50 g each, water 25 kg.

To maintain the pure green color of the green apricot plums, indigo and lemon yellow pigments can be used to dye the green apricot cups during immersion. The amount of food coloring used is generally 0.015% to 0.025% of the weight of the apricot cups, with the ratio of indigo to lemon yellow generally being 4:6 to 3:7.

First wash the licorice, then boil it with 25 kg of water and reduce to 20 kg. After filtering out the licorice juice, mix in the above seasonings to make the licorice compound immersion liquid. Dissolve the coloring with a small amount of water and add it to the immersion liquid as well. (2) Immersion treatment of the blanks: Heat the compound immersion liquid to 80 to 90°C, add the half-dry green apricot cups while hot, gently stir to allow full absorption, immerse for 12 hours, then remove and proceed with sugar curing.

7. Sugar curing treatment: At a ratio of 30 kg of sugar per 100 kg of green apricot fruit cups, layer the fruit cups and sugar for layered curing. After 2 days, add sugar once at 8% of the fruit weight. After another 2 days, add sugar once more at 6% of the fruit weight. At this point, stop adding sugar. When a slight fermentation phenomenon appears, scoop out the green apricot plum fruit cups. Put the sugar liquid into a pot and heat it, adjust the sugar liquid concentration to 50%, and after boiling, pour the scooped-out fruit cups into the pot. When it is about to boil, transfer the fruit cups and sugar liquid into an immersion vat and soak for 48 hours. Add sugar once every 5 days, with each addition being 7% of the fruit cup weight. After adding sugar 4 times, soak for 2 to 4 days. Scoop out the fruit cups, adjust the sugar liquid concentration to 65%, and heat to boiling. Continue soaking with this sugar liquid for 3 to 5 days, then scoop out, drain the sugar liquid thoroughly, and proceed with baking.

8. Baking: During baking, first bake for 5 to 6 hours at a temperature condition of 60%, then raise the temperature to 70°C and bake for about 8 to 12 hours. When the moisture content drops to 18% to 20% and the product does not stick to the hand when touched, it can be taken out.

9. Moisture regain, trimming, inspection, and packaging: After being taken out, the green apricot plums should be piled on trays for 2 to 3 days for moisture regain, then trimmed and sorted. Remove impurities, broken pieces, and products with poor color, and package them separately. Pack qualified products in plastic food bags for quantitative packaging.

III. Analysis of Relevant Technical Issues in Multi-Flavor Green Apricot Plums

1. Product flavor issue: We improved on the traditional process by carrying out immersion treatment with licorice compound liquid before sugar curing the fruit cups, giving the product a compound flavor that is sour, sweet, salty, and fragrant.

2. Product coloring issue: The ratio of indigo to lemon yellow is preferably 3:7. The method of use is to add the coloring to the licorice compound immersion liquid, so that while the fruit cups absorb the immersion liquid, the coloring is also absorbed into the flesh.

3. Sugar curing time issue: After immersion in the licorice compound liquid, the green apricot plums undergo a dehydration treatment. The fermentation time is generally about 1 day.