Small Scale Production of Pickle

Vijay Kumar Shah

shahvk55@gmail.com +91 99353 60033 WhatsApp +91 98397 84033

Pickle is amongst few adjuncts, which are eaten by rich and poor, alike. We find it in beggars meal as well as in the parties hoisted by richest of the country. Pickles are manufactured and consumed in every part of world. Although recipe differs, but in general pickles are sour, salty and spicy. They are not complete meal by itself but are used with the main meal or some course to increase the pleasure of eating.

FOOD LAWS

Following acts covers Pickle:

Fruit products Order (F.P.O.)

Prevention of Food Adulteration Act.(P.F.A.)

Packaging Commodities Act.

It is mandatory to obtain a license under F.P.O. before commencing production.

P.F.A. classify pickles into 3 categories –

Pickles in citrus juice or brine

Pickles in Oil

Pickles in vinegar

In our country main pickle is Pickle in oil so this article will concentrate on it.

As per P.F.A.

Pickles in Oil – The fruit and vegetable percentage in the final product shall not be less than 60%. The pickles shall be covered with oil so as to form a layer of not less than 0.5 cm above the contents or the percentage of oil in pickle shall not be less than 10%.

The pickle shall be free from added copper, alum and mineral acid. It may contain rapeseed (rai), ajwain, saunf, black pepper and like spices. Permitted preservatives may be used in pickles.

Preservatives allowed – Maximum limit – Benzoic Acid 250 ppm

Or Sulphur dioxide 100 ppm

Or a Mixture of two.

The main points in this law are

1. Fruit/vegetable – minimum 60%

2. Oil minimum 10%

3. Minimum oil on pickle top 5 mm

Oil is the main catch in this law. It is must to add minimum 10% oil, in pickle. Even if one adds 10% or even more oil in the recipe one cannot be sure that on analysis it will pass. Oil being not miscible with water runs away during filling of pickle and although overall pickle lot may contain over 10% oil, some bottles will have more and others less of oil. When this law was first introduced in the country many samples of even reputed companies failed. Then two solutions came up –

1. Add major portion of oil say 6-7% as topping oil in the container and less oil while preparing pickle.

2. Do not write, “Pickle in oil” on label. Simply write “Pickle” Thus it will be not fall in any of the three categories of pickles. It will be classified as Proprietary foods under Rule 37 A.

The second solution has become now a common practice.

F.P.O. specifications are

Variety – Any fruit and vegetable of suitable variety. Kind of Fruit or vegetable should be declared on the label.

Oil – Any edible vegetable oil like rape seed, mustard, olive oil etc.

General characteristics – The fruits and vegetables used in the preparation shall be wholesome and shall be free from fungal or insect attack. The only substances that may be added are spices, salt, oils, sugar. Jaggery, onion, garlic, acetic acid, turmeric, condiments and permitted preservatives. All the ingredients used shall be thoroughly clean and free from extraneous matter. The pickle shall be of pleasant taste and flavor, and free from added copper, alum, and mineral acid.

Packing – clean bottles, jars, wooden casks, tin container covered inside with polythene lining of minimum 250 gauge or suitably lacquered cans shall be used.

Preservatives – Benzoic acid 250 ppm

Or Sulphur di oxide 100 ppm

Preservation of pickle in oil

The pickles should have following specification for long shelf life -

Salt – over 12%, best is >15%
Acidity (titrable) - > 2% of which minimum 0.5% should be acetic acid.
pH - bellow 3.5
Moisture - bellow 50%
Oil – to cover top completely
Preservative – optional but usual in commercial pickles. It should be in correct quantity and well mixed.

A good Indian pickle recipe easily balances all this.

Other Quality Points:

Pieces – should be bite size and retain shape. They should not be pulpy or too soft.

Gravy – It should be thick, pungent and aromatic and have pleasing color. It should not flow in the plate. It should look oily and not watery.

It should not have foreign matter, defective pieces of fruit and vegetable.

Raw Material

The major raw materials are:

Fruits and vegetables
Salt
Acid – vinegar or other fruit acid, or natural souring agent
Spices
Oil
In some recipe sweeteners like Sugar, jaggery etc.
Additives – color, thickener, spice oleoresins, preservatives etc.

The quality of pickle not only depends on recipe but also equally upon the quality of material used.

1. Fruits and Vegetables – In pickle the pieces of fruit/vegetable should retain their shape. They are not crushed. So only such are used which do not become pulpy and shapeless.

Mango, Lime, Green chillie are most common. Ginger, Carrot, Karonda, Amada, Red Maghi chillie, Lisoda etc. are also good for pickling. These are used separately or in combination.

However to prepare economic pickle when available cheap, Radish, Cucumber, Pear, Apple, Mosambi, Bottle gourd etc. are also used.

The fruits and vegetables used shall be fresh, free from insect and fungal attacks, wholesome not rotten and have attractive color,

It is major component of pickle forming nearly half to two third of total mass.

2. Salt it is second major constituent of pickle, and main preservative. Salt should be of good quality. It can be one of the biggest sources of unknowingly addition of minerals like Iron (Darkens the pickle), Calcium (Neutralizes Acidity), Magnesium (Affects color and shining of pickle), other minerals and dirt.

Salt is hygroscopic. Often it contains high moisture, which upsets the recipe. Say if salt contains 10% moisture and one adds as per recipe 100 Kilo of salt, actually only 90 kilo salt is added and rest 10 kilo is water. It will affect the taste as well as shelf life of the pickle.

It should be white; otherwise it will affect the brilliancy and color of pickles.

It is again most important component and is nearly 12 – 15% of the pickle.

3. Acid – it is for taste as well as for preservation. Often no acid is added and natural acidity of fruit itself is sufficient to give a good taste as well as preserve the pickle.

Normally the fruits used for pickle are sour like raw mangoes and Lime. In mixed pickles we select fruits so that the blend is sour.

If it is not, normally acetic acid is used. It is best from preservation point of view. However strong acetic smell is not liked in India. In that case part acetic acid and part citric acid is used. Lactic acid is recommended in literature, but it is not popular, as it is costly and not easily available. Awareness about lactic acid is also lacking.

Amongst natural acidulants – Limejuice, Tamarind Paste, Raw Mango powder (Amchur) are common.

Natural lactic fermentation of fruits – especially sugar containing products like carrot is also good. It not only increases their acidity but also reduces sugar content by converting them into lactic acid, thus reducing chances of yeast fermentation. Although lactic fermentation is common in Western pickle, it is not common in our country.

4. Spices:

It plays major part in giving pickles its taste, aroma and color. Depending on recipe and cost it is used from 3 % to 10% of the weight of pickle.

Spice differs from region to region.

In Western India bright red pickle is preferred so spices commonly used are Red Chilly, Mustard Dal, Haldi, Methi, and Asafoteida. In some pickles Badi Saunf, Garlic etc. are used.

In North Indian like different flavor, so besides above, aromatic spices viz. Coriander, Cumin, Ajwon, Kalaunji are also freely used. Here normally Black mustard powder or Banarasi rai powder is used. These pickles are usually yellowish or brownish yellow.

The spices should be clean and free from dirt. Due to its high cost it is one of the most commonly adulterated article. The same spice grown in different region differs greatly in taste, color and aroma. Of course different variety are different in quality. So while selecting spice one should not only consider the type of spice but also its variety and area where it is grown.

Turmeric from Selam is different than turmeric of Rajapur. Or Chilly from Hubli are high in color while chillie from Guntur are more pungent. Same with all spices.

5. Oil – First thing only edible oil from vegetable source are used.

Selection of Oil is largely a matter of regional choice. North Indian prefers Mustard Oil.

Maharashtra Cotton seed, Gujarat and Karnataka – til oil. Groundnut, Coconut is other oil that are used. Virtually any edible oil can be used, but it should be stable and not turn rancid soon.

Oil should have low free fatty acid. It is an indication of rancidity.

Oil being costly its quantity depends on cost of pickle. It is used between 1 – 15%.

6. Sugar/Jaggery – sometimes in pickles some quantity of sugar or jaggery is used, as per regional taste. It balances salt. Addition of sweetener is not common.

7. Water – In proper pickle no outside water is needed. Rather our domestic recipe is very allergic to any outside water. These even call for, to dry the fruits after washing before cutting or even sundry the pieces after salting to dry water, which oozes out.

Pieces in Pickles should not be exposed to atmosphere, as otherwise microbial growth may develop on them spoiling the pickle. Mixing of dry salt with fruit pieces draws out water contained in fruit to form brine osmotically. Normally this brine along with oil added to pickle is sufficient to cover pieces. If the brine formed is not sufficient, or oil added is less for economics or otherwise, water is added so there is sufficient liquid to submerge all solid pieces. While adding water care should be taken to add extra salt and acid so the specifications necessary for preservation is maintained. Water is no taboo. It is part of all economic pickles

8. Thickener: Pickle consists of two phases – solid and liquid. The liquid portion consists of brine, spices, fruit pulp and oil. It should be usually thick and pasty. Like chutney and not thin and free flowing. If quantity of spices is sufficient its cellulose and fibers makes the brine thick. Particularly Rai and Methi are good thickeners.

But if spices are not sufficient there will be free water. To thicken it

i) Increase quantity of spice specially methi.

ii) Add fruit pulp – like raw mango pulp, pulp of lime peel (Crushed lime peel is very good), Pulp of pectinous fruits like raw papaya, Amada, Apple etc. Any thing that will increase fiber, gums etc. to hold water.

iii) Thickener: Various gum-based thickeners are available in market these if used in low quantity thickens the gravy. We have to select one that binds water of the gravy but does not have a gummy feeling in the mouth. They are normally used 250 gms to 500 gms /100 kilo of pickle.

iv) Drain out water, (with or without sun drying of pieces) and fill up the pickle jar with oil. This is costly and practiced only on domestic level.

v) Keep pickle in sun to evaporate extra water. This is commonly done for domestic pickle.

9. Preservative:

Common preservative in our country are

1. Sodium Benzoate

2. Sodium Meta bi sulphite

SMS brightens the pickle and is god antifungal, while sodium benzoate is better against bacteria and yeast. A combination of two is good.

Sorbates are better antifungal but they are much costly, has been recently introduced in our country hence not much in use.

10. Color: It is said that foods are first eaten by eye. An attractive color is must. Of course the choice of color from area to area differs. Western India likes reddish pickle with lot of thick gravy and smaller pieces, while north wants bigger pieces, yellowish shade and gravy oily.

Addition of turmeric along with salt in pieces prevents pieces from turning dark and produces brighter final product. Use of dark spices like mangrail, badi saunf etc. in broken and now powdery form will prevent pickle from becoming dark. Using of pure salt and proper washing of pieces also reduces chances of metal contamination that causes darkening.

For bright red color, use only those spices that are of yellow or red color and use a blend of red variety of chillie like Kashmiri, Beadgi etc.

For economic reason or otherwise also people uses synthetic dyes like Ponceau 4 R. Indian Food laws do not allow this. It is water-soluble so it colors fruit pieces too, that does not look attractive. It fades too after some times. Use of oil soluble natural color like Paprika although costlier, is desirable, as they do not color pieces and are not objected by law as it is derived from natural sources. Ratanjot is also used, which gives good color but off smell later.

11. Hardening agent: Calcium Chloride, Alum etc are some times used to maintain the crispness of pieces. This in not very desirable and should be used only as a last resort.

Proper selection of fruit and vegetable, quick processing and precaution to prevent bacterial growth will help in maintaining proper texture of fruits and vegetables. If must use calcium chloride at the initial stage. It reacts with pectin to harden, and once fruits become too soft, there is no pectin for Calcium chloride to act. Lime is never used in pickle as it neutralizes acid, which is essential for pickle.

Processing technique

Washing – Fruits and vegetables should be washed thoroughly before cutting. All fruits should be soaked in water, washed and finally rinsed with fresh water preferably chlorinated.

Those grown underground – like carrot, ginger are prone to heavy contamination, so should be washed thoroughly with water + chlorine, to reduce bacterial load.

Crops that are sprayed with insecticide – like chillie and lime should be washed with water containing hydrochloric acid to dissolve chemical sprays,

We have tried one experiment to blanch raw mangoes after washing for 2 minutes in water at 60 C, and found that it is effective in reducing Yeast load considerably.

The object of washing is to remove dirt – which may darken the pickle due to metal in it, besides being gritty. It also reduces microbial load.

Addition of salt - there are two basic techniques:

i) Dry salting – cut pieces are mixed with salt, it draws water from fruits to form

brine. It is common method.

ii) Wet brining – where salt solution is prepared and pieces are covered with it. If strong brine is used, no fermentation takes place; otherwise lactic fermentation will take place.

There are different techniques for making and preserving pickles.

i)Direct Pickle Making:

The home method is to mix pieces, salt, spices and other ingredients all together at the beginning itself, leave it for a couple of days with occasional stirring and add oil to the top of pickle. This gives good flavor and taste to pickle.

However it requires more investment in procurement of all raw materials, larger storage space, increased workload during the fruit season, as one has to handle fruits as well as make pickles too. If anything goes wrong the whole lot is spoiled often beyond salvage point, causing greater monetary losses.

ii) Brining method:

The more commercial method is that fruits and vegetables are first preserved in brine, in season and converted into pickle when there is demand for pickle. This method has several advantages:

a) Less investment – as during fruit season, money is needed only for fruits and salt and not for spices, oil etc.

b) Spread of workload – during season labor is needed only for fruit preparation and preservation. Later in lean season the pickle is manufactured.

c) Greater flexibility in recipe – As there are only pieces and salt, and the type and quantity of spices is decided later, several types of pickles can be manufactured with same salted pieces by using different combination and ratio of other ingredients viz oil and spices.

d) Less risk – if anything goes wrong, only money invested in fruit and salt is lost and not in complete pickle. Often in that case the fruit is converted in economical variety of pickle or blended in mixed pickle thus even it is saved. Once a lot of mango in brine became old and was mushy. It was turned into raw mango pulp and could be used in mango chutney.

e) Color is better as old brine is often discarded. This gives pickle a fresh look.

f) Cutting by contract worker is possible – as pieces thus preserved are often washed and cleaned before pickling, so if processed under poorer sanitary condition, can be used for pickling after proper washing and cleaning.

However such pickle is poorer in aroma and taste, when compared with pickle directly made. But this is more than compensated due to above advantages.

iii) Partial spicing

A midway is often used by many manufacturers, where a little spice is added along with salt, so that to take part advantage of both the methods. Often only part haldi, Rai and methi is added in the initial stages, and chilly and aromatic spices are added during final preparation.

Fruits/ Vegetables can be grouped as bellow

i) High acid – They are most suitable for pickling and will preserve well. Like Raw Mango (Deshi varieties), Lime, Amada, karonda etc.

ii) Sugary – like carrot – here these may cause yeast growth in pickle afterwards.

So best is to convert sugar in lactic acid by lactic fermentation. The pH then can be adjusted with acetic acid/citric acid.

iii) Low acid – ginger, green chillie, etc. – here acids must be added either as acid or in natural acid form like lime juice. Otherwise these will attract microbial growth.

iv) Low fiber – here to get proper texture either hardening agent like Calcium chloride are used. Lactic fermentation also helps in improving texture.

v) High smelling vegetables: like Radish, turnip. Soak them in weak brine for a couple of days and discard brine. Cover with fresh weak brine. Repeat it two three times. This will dissolve and wash off smelling compounds.

Preparation and Brining of fruits and vegetables:

If direct pickling method is followed the prepared pieces are mixed with other ingredients directly, otherwise brining technique described bellow is adopted.

Mango

Green mangoes of sour variety with white inside flesh are selected. They should be cut as soon as after harvesting as possible, otherwise the pieces will loose its crispness. The tip is removed; mangoes are washed and cut into pieces. Normally 5/8” cube is preferred. However some recipe call for much bigger size. Inside soft kernel is removed, but the hard stone is mostly retained. It keeps the pieces crisp.

Here the biggest problem is softening and disintegration of pieces. Consumer likes mango pieces Crisp. In olden days only fibrous, sour deshi mango ware used. However now it is no more possible, and one depends on market where all varieties of mango come. Sour the mango, better it is, more fibrous it is, better it is.

Double brining (described bellow) is better for mangoes to keep them firm

First Mango pieces are well mixed with 10% salt and 0.5% haldi powder.

These are filled in barrels and left for 3 days during which period brine is formed.

Then the brine is drained off and topped with fresh 10% brine solution. If mangoes are of non-sour variety, use 0.2% calcium Chloride in final brine.

This leaches out pectin degrading enzymes, which causes softening of mangoes.

Lime: These should be yellow and juicy. Green lime results in brownish and dull pickle. Kagazi lime is preferred because of its pleasing aroma and high acidity. Other lemon, like Galgal, Eureka etc is also used. They are less sour so often acid is to be added. They are used in mixed pickle only and are not good for pure lime pickle.

It is cut into 4 or 8 pieces depending upon the size of fruit.

Dry salting is used.

Lime pieces 100 kilo

Salt 20-25 kilo

Haldi 0.5 – 0.75 kilo

Generally brine formed is insufficient to cover pieces unto top. So extra brine of 20% salt is added. If not fully covered growth of surface yeast is common. So cover the salted pieces with dry coarse salt. Addition of SO₂ also helps in keeping the pieces bright, and preventing surface microbial growth.

Green Chillie : long with thick skin and low pungency are ideal, although any variety is used. Green ness is important and reddish and blackish chilies should be avoided.

Its stem is removed and cut into 20 – 25 mm long pieces.

Here normally liquid is added with salt, as natural brine formed with salt is insufficient to cover pieces completely. Acid in the form of limejuice and acetic acid is also added for preservation.

A typical recipe is 100 kg Green chilly pieces

25 kilo Salt

25 kilo Limejuice

1.5 L acetic acid

Limejuice besides providing acidity for preservation improves the flavor of pickle too. If limejuice is not available, instead 1.5 kilo of citric acid and 25 L water may be added.

Green Ginger: Liked for its pungent taste. Its thin skin should be removed. It can be scraped with a sharp knife. Other way of peeling is

1) Rubbing it on rough mat/gunny bags,

2) Soaking it in strong bleaching powder solution and pounding it, wash off skin.

3) There are mechanical peeler developed which is a drum with brushes. In this gingers are continuously rubbed with hard brushes in rotating drums under water spray.

Ginger is cut into long thin pieces. Because of its high pungency a big piece cannot be eaten in one bite. It goes in mixed pickle maximum 5%.

If too strong brine is used for preserving ginger at the initial stages, there are chances of cells collapsing. So it is better first stored for a week or so in 10% brine. Later the brine is replaced with 20% brine containing 1% acetic acid.

Carrot: Liked for its crispness and color. Scraped to remove skin and cut into long rectangular pieces. Best size is 1/8” x 1/8’ x 1.25”. Abrasive peelers are useful for peeling carrot.

Best way of preserving carrot is by lactic fermentation.

Whole Carrot are washed and dipped in 10% brine solution. They are allowed to ferment naturally (by lactic acid bacteria) for one to two weeks. Generally foaming occurs during this period. After fermentation is over, brine discarded and carrot are washed and preserved in brine. The strength of brine is maintained so that after equilibrium there is 16% salt and pH bellow 3.5 (Maintained by acetic acid) in the barrel.

During lactic fermentation or during final preservation, carrots can be removed, topped and tailed, scrapped lightly and cut into desired pieces. These are then again dipped in the same brine solution till converted into pickle.

Carrots are normally used in mixed pickle only, up to 10 – 20%.

Garlic: the Individual cloves are separated and peeled. The peeling of garlic is a laborious process. It is sun dried and smeared with little oil. By rubbing it between palms the skin loosens and blown off. Another way is to rub these on rough jute bags. By filling it in jute bag and then hitting it on a hard surface also breaks and loosens skin. Now there is abrasive peeler available where hot air is blown instead of water sprays. The skin is broken and blown off with hot air.

Garlic darkens in color gradually on storage due to enzymatic browning. So it should be blanched in boiling water for 2 minutes to inactivate enzyme. The flavor is less sharp but color improves much. Incorporating crushed fresh garlic while pickle is made can restore the flavor.

Garlic cloves can be preserved in 10% brine + 1% acetic acid. Garlic blends well with mango pickle. But generally it is converted into garlic pickle.

Amada: A north Indian ber shape fruit. It is in general a substitute for mango. It is crisp and sour. If mango crop is poor it is used a lot. Cut into two or 4 pieces lengthwise seed is removed and preserved with 20 Kilo salt/ hundred kilos of fruit.

Karonda – Used in North Indian pickles. Liked because of its sourness and crispness. Used whole or cut into two with or without seeds. It is preserved in brine of 20%.

There are two varieties – Green and white. White is preferred, for it gives better appearance. Green is cheaper as it is less in demand.

In Maharashtra another berry- Karvand (Jungal ki maina) – a wild berry grown in hilly forests is used. It is also sour and suitable for pickle.

Tenti or Dela – Mostly used in Western India. It is liked because of its texture. Smaller the fruit better it is. Tenti is used whole and preserved in brine of 20% salt and 1% acidity as acetic acid

Lisoda/ Gunda : Round fruits, bigger than Tenti, gummy mouth feel. Used whole with or without seed. It is popular in Gujarat. It is preserved in 20% brine + 1% acetic acid.

Radish – used in catering pickle of economic quality. Texture is O.K. but smell is not good. It is recommended to soak it in weak brine and change brine two three times to leach out flavor. It can also be preserved in 20% brine + 1% acetic acid. But it is used in season only.

Cauliflower, Mosambi, Apple, Pear, Raw Papaya, Cucumber etc. are used in economic catering pickles whenever they are available at cheap rate. But normally these are not used in pickle for housewives. They are used in season, cut and directly converted into pickle.

Preparation of Spices

Spices provide taste, color and thickness to gravy. Normally 10% spices are added to pickle. Again for economic reason less spices may be added even as less as 3%.

Red Chilli: It provides color and pungency to pickle and is added to all types of pickle. There are many verities of chillie are available. Different variety and chilli from different regions differ largely in color and pungency.

Guntur chilli is generally pungent and moderate in color. Birds Eye chillie (Lavangi Mirchi) is very hot and not used in pickle. Kashmiri chillie, are low in pungency and very good in color. Beadgi has good color and also its own taste.

A judicious blend of different varieties of chillies provides good taste and color. Normally

50% guntur + 30% Beadgi + 20% Kashmiri chillie will give an attractive color as well as pungency. However in north India generally less redness in pickle is liked so only guntur is added.

For better color and appearance chilli should be cold stored after harvesting, destemmed and coarsely powdered. It gives better appearance than very fine powder. Chillie should be added a few days earlier to final filling so that its color is fresh. The chilli color fades with time.

Mustard: It provides pungency also helps in preservation. Here again variety plays a major part. Yellow mustard is less pungent. Black is more pungent but affects the brightness of pickle. In western India, where brighter pickle is preferred mustard dal made from black mustard is used. This gives the proper pungency and brighter appearance. In Varanasi Banarasi Rai is preferred which is a very small variety of mustard. Mustard is a necessary ingredient of most pickles. It is coarse powdered. Due to its oil content it is difficult to powder it, so often it is mixed with methi and powdered.

Haldi – It is used for color and its flavor but mainly color. It is added at the very early stage of pickle manufacturing often with salt. This way it prevents pieces from getting dark. It is added as very fine powder. Rajapur Haldi of Sangli is having good aroma as well as an attractive reddish yellow color.

Methi – It is must in every pickle. It is often roasted to a light brown color to develop good aroma. However extra roasting will darken it and affect the color of final pickle too. Methi is added for its taste and also it absorbs water and thickens gravy. But too much of methi causes bitterness in pickles.

Heeng: One of the costliest and most adulterated amongst spices. It is latex from tree found in central Asia – Iran and Afghanistan. There are two basic varieties Irani and Pathani. The heeng commonly available in market are compound heeng or Bandhani Heeng. They are basically a mixture of one or more varieties of heeng, gum Arabic, edible starches or edible Cereal flour.

The purest heeng is in tear form, are rounded or flattened, 5-30 mm in diameter and grayish or dull yellow in color.

The heeng is used in pickle for its flavor. Being costly it is often not used in economic pickles.

Heeng must be finely powdered and well mixed in spices. It may be powdered raw, after dry roasting or frying in oil. Another way of using it is to soak it in water overnight and prepare a colloidal solution to be added to pickle.

Badi Saunf – Added for its flavor. Very good in mango pickle. However it makes pickle dark, so if reddish shade is desired, better to add it as broken pieces and not powdered. It is often lightly roasted to improve flavor.

Zeera – Another aromatic spice, used in north India. It is also roasted and broken or used whole.

Dhania – Used for its aroma. Used as medium coarse powder. A pinch of Dhania in topping oil gives good aroma to pickle pack.

Black Cumin (Mangrail) – Used whole for its aroma.

Ajwon – Another commonly used aromatic spice, added as whole. Contains lot of dirt so it should be thoroughly cleaned before using.

Clove – Whole gives aroma and richness to pickle.

Garam Masala – like Javitri, cinnamon etc. are rarely used in small quantity for its flavor.

Of all the above spices Red Chilli, turmeric, methi and mustard are always used rest depends on formulation and cost.

Phodani Method of mixing spices:

Common in Maharashtra and Gujarat. This is a way of developing aroma in spices. Here on the bed of spices smoking hot oil is poured.

Spices are layered on a wide plate (Parat) – Bottom is salt, then mustard, then Methi and top is heeng. Oil is heated to smoking point and then it is poured over the spice bed. The spice is then mixed quickly to spread the heat and oil uniformly. It is cooled and then haldi and red chillie are mixed in it. Haldi and red chillie turn dark if heated so they are not subjected to hot oil treatment. Masala for several lots are mixed and used as and when required. The pickle made with it is of fine aroma.

OIL : It is added for taste and preservation. The type of oil used depends on regional taste.

In North Mustard oil is preferred. Yellow mustard oil is of better flavoring but costlier.

Cottonseed oil is preferred in Maharashtra. It is liked for its bland flavor. It should be boiled and cooled before adding to pickle.

Til oil gives a good flavor to pickle, and is commonly used in Karnataka and Gujarat

Groundnut oil is also used after boiling and cooling.

Rapeseed oil is used for pickle meant for export to Europe. It is bland in taste. It must have Eurocic acid bellow 5%.

Oil should be pure and of pleasant smell. If free fatty acid is more and it is rancid, it will spoil the taste of pickle. Oil is again a commodity that is commonly adulterated. Oil is a costly ingredient so it is used from 1 – 15% depending on the selling price of pickle.

Preservative: Normally the salt, acid and oil in pickle are sufficient to preserve it. But now a days in commercial pickle preservatives are added to ensure long shelf life. Preservative also helps in preparing low salt pickle, as with its addition, salt can be lowered to even 12%.

It is recommend to add 10 gms SMS and 20 gms Sodium Benzoate / 100 kilo pickle. Preservatives should always be dissolved in little water and then added for uniform mixing in whole mass. It should never be added in powder form. A method is to prepare stock solution and use it whenever required.

Stock Preservative Solution

700 gms Sodium Benzoate

300 gms Sodium meta bi sulphite/Potassium meta bi sulphite

3.5 L water

Boil water, remove from fire and mix in above. It will be 4 liter. Keep in a jerry can. Use it 1 ml/kilo pickle or pieces.

If preservatives are used, it is best to add it in initial stages, or in the brine itself. This way it will not allow the microorganism to develop from the beginning.

Thickeners:

As mentioned earlier there are many hydrocolloids available now which binds water. They are added in small quantities in pickle. They are normally used in catering types of pickles. Best, these should be dissolved in hot water with high-speed stirrer. But many factories not having this facility simply mix the thickener with spices and mix it in the lot. Thickener gradually soaks water.

If pulp is used, it is mixed in the lot at the time of preparation of final pickle.

Color:

If used it is again added at the final stages.

Ponceau 4 R is dissolved in water and added to the pickle.

Paprika OS is dissolved in oil and added in the gravy of pickle.

Mixing of Pickle

All ingredients are weighed.

Fruits/vegetables pieces are spread in large trey.

Brine is also measured.

All ingredients are added one by one and mixed thoroughly.

Or else all ingredients except pieces and oil are mixed into thick gravy that is then poured over pieces and all is mixed well.

Now a day mechanical mixer is also available, which are modified slow speed ribbon blenders.

These are usually of 200 to 500 kilo batches. These are very efficient.

The pickle after mixing is generally left for a couple of days for ingredients to reach equilibrium, analyzed for its specifications, oil is added again mixed and filled.

Oily Pickle: Oil is added last. If it is added along with spices, spices will soak oil and the brine will be free. The pickle will look watery. But if brine is added first, spice will soak brine and whatever oil is added will be free and will fill in the gaps, which looks more attractive.

Recipe:

The pickle is made of two parts – solid and liquid.

Solid consists of pieces of fruits and vegetables.

Liquid is a thick gravy made up with Brine, Oil, Spices and may be other additives like acid, preservative, thickeners and colors.

For good shelf life it is must that all pieces are covered with gravy and there is at least 5 mm layer of oil on top. Usually it is achieved if solid: gravy is in ratio of 65:35.

A typical recipe that will fulfill this is

65 kilo pieces

15 kilo salt

10 kilo oil

10 kilo spices

Gravy is the costlier part of pickle. So this recipe is possible only in costlier pickle. For catering quality or for economic reasons the quantity of spice and oil is reduced. But to maintain solid : gravy ratio we replace it with brine. Brine is much cheaper than spice or oil.

Again pickle should not look too watery and it should not flow in the plate. So this extra water added is thickened with chemical thickeners, pulp and by increased quantity of methi and mustard. To compensate for preserving power of oil, it is essential to add preservatives and for color, coal tar dye or paprika is added. A recipe for economic pickle may be

65 kilo pieces

15 kilo salt

3 kilo oil

3 kilo spice

0.5 kilo Thickener

13.5 kilo water

Preservative

Color

Keeping above points, and regional preferences in view various pickle recipe can be worked out.

Here a typical recipe for economical as well as premium quality pickle is given. But it is for guideline only and infinite variations are possible.

A typical Spice Recipe

Particulars @/kilo Qty(Kilo) Value

Red Chillie Powder (Beadgi/Kashmiri) 70 20 1400

Rai Dal 45 15 675

Methi ( Dry roast and Coarse Grind) 40 5 200

Haldi Powder 50 3 150

Badi Saunf (Coarse Pounded) 80 3 240

Black Cumin (Mangrail) Whole 60 3 180

Coriander Powder 30 3 90

Cumin – Dry Roast and Powder 120 1.5 180

Cloves Whole 120 1.5 180

Asafetida 1200 0.2 240

Salt 3.50 4 14

Oil – mustard 40 8 Liter 320

Total 62.5 kilo 3713

Rs. 57 – 60 / kilo cost of spices

Mixed Pickles

		Catering		Special
Particulars	Rate Rs./Kg	Quantity(Kg)	Cost(Rs.)	Quantity(Kg)	Cost(Rs.)
*Fruit Pieces*
Mango	8.00	2	16.00	3	24.00
Lime	5.00	2	10.00	3	15.00
Raw Papaya	3.00	2	6.00	-	-
Green Chillie	6.00	2	12.00	2	12.00
Green Ginger	20.00	0.5	10.00	1	20.00
Karonda	10.00	0.5	5.00	1	10.00
Amada	4.00	2	8.00	1	4.00
Carrot	3.00	2	6.00	2	6.00
Total pieces		13 kg	73.00	13 Kg	91.00
Grevy
Pickle spice Mix	60.00	1.4	84.00	2.00	120.00
Brine	(3 Kg salt)	4.6 L	9.00	2.00 L	9.00
Acetic Acid	40/L	0.2 L	8.00	0.2 L	8.00
Sodium Benzoate	60/Kg	6 gms	0.36	6 gms	0.36
Oleo Paprika OS	750/Kg	10 ml	7.50	20 ml	15.00
Mustard Oil
In spices	40/L	0.2 L	8.00	.2L	8.00
In pickle mixing		0.6 L	24.00	1.8 l	72.00
Topping		0.2 L	8.00	1.0 L	40.00
Total oil		1.00 L		3.00
Total		20.00 Kilo	221.86	20 kilo	363.36
Cost/Kilo			11.10/Kilo		18.20/Kilo

Remark:

1. Fruit Pieces ratio may vary as per season and availability.

2. Brine quantity should be adjusted as per desired fluidity in pickle.

3. Acetic acid should be sufficient to give required sourness and pH

4. Sodium Benzoate if added in fruit pieces during preservation, should be considered.

5. Quantity of Oleo Paprika OS will depend on the color of pickle. It is added mixed with oil.

6. Topping oil should be colored slightly red with oleo paprika OS.

7. Topping oil should be

50 ml for 2.5 Kilo/5 kilo jars/1 kilo Jars

25 ml for 500 gms jars.

8. All material except oil should be mixed and left for 2-3 days. Then mixing oil should be mixed and filled.

Specifications

Salt 13-15%

Acidity 1.8-2.0%

%Drained weights 60-65

Aroma Spicy and pleasing

Color Reddish brown

Pickle should be completely covered with oil/brine.

Precautions;

Mixing should be thorough, if salt and pieces are not mixed properly, there may be pockets of low salt where microbial growth may take place and later spread in whole mass.
In small batches stirring with ladle or hand may be sufficient. But in large batches it may be necessary to remove pickle from storage tank a couple of time, mix properly and refill in tank.
Proper maintaince of acidity, pH, salt and solid liquid ratio is must for preservation.

Economic Pickles:

Replace major part of oil with brine, but maintain pH, salt %.
Reduce spices and use thickeners for absorbing extra water.
Reduce or avoid costly spices like Asafetida, kashmiri chillie etc.
Use more of cheaper and seasonal fruit/vegetable, and change recipe as per their availability. Stored fruits are costlier.
Use preservatives at the brining stage.

Low salt Pickle:

For health reasons low salt and preservative free pickle is in demand.

Pasteurization of Pickle: Although heat sterilization of pickles is not in practice, excess of salt is added to prevent microbial growth. It is possible to prepare low salt pickles, if after filling in bottles; these are pasteurized at 65 C for 30 minutes. This low temperature will not adversely affect texture and other quality of pickles but will kill microorganism.

Wash brined and well cured pieces to reduce salt content.
Prepare pickle as per recipe, maintaining low salt (8 – 10%) and low oil content.
Pasteurize at 65⁰ C for 30 minutes and let air cool.

Storage:

Due to seasonal nature of fruits and vegetables, pickle is to be stored for use in rest of year.

Several types of containers are used.

Earthen Pots – Very safe and neutral, but fragile and very heavy. Very difficult to move. Used only at home or in small units.
Tin canisters – One of the most common. Generally 4 gallon used oil canisters are used.

Its mouth is cut wide, poly lined and pickle is filled in it, mouth soldered. It can be dispatched as such to consumers or it can be opened, pickle remixed and may be more spice, oil etc are added and refilled again before dispatch.

It is one of the most common methods, as it requires less investment in container. Tins can be stacked very high.

However there are chances of leakage and tins getting rusted spoiling pickle.

Wooden Barrels – Ware common earlier before the invention of Plastic drums. Wood is safe for storage of pickle but there was heavy maintaince cost and always chances of leakage. It is now rarely used.

Plastic drums – usually wide mouth 50 L / 100 L HDPE drums are used. They can be stacked two or three high. 250 L full open top are also used but these are difficult to stack .

These have become most popular now a day. They are safe for pickles, does not react with it. Are mobile and easily transportable.

Large Plastic Drums: Difficult to take out material. These are not very sanitary as they cannot be washed easily. Normally one fills and empties these at the spot so surrounding gets dirty and may result in insect growth.

RCC Tanks: These are also popular amongst large manufacturers and can last long if properly constructed and maintained. Some points while constructing them should be kept in mind:

Tanks should be made of RCC and not bricks. Bricks are porous.
Inside should be lined with acid/alkali proof tiles or Mandana Stones.
While fixing tiles/stones, care should be taken that there is no gap behind stone

(Between wall and stone) in which brine may seep and loosen stones.

4. The narada (Joint between two stones) should be filled with cement and painted with acid proof epoxy paint. To avoid seepage of brine to cement wall.

Salt seeps in through hair crakes and reaches cement wall loosening its bonds. So cement starts falling. This affects the wall strength and also the cement particles fall into pickle. The tank may start leaking. So it is very essential to prevent salt from reaching cement wall. Painting of tank with epoxy paint is another alternative but we have to repaint after every couple of years. Besides stone/tiles is safe contact for pickle.

Another problem with large tank are mixing and removal of pickle. If shallow tanks say upto 30” deep are build, pickles can be removed from top, but such tanks will occupy more floor space, and space costs money.

Deeper tanks will require a man to enter into tank and shovel out pickles.

Alternatives are to build tanks raised from ground and have bottom outlet, but pickles may not flow out easily. Help of a screw pump inserted in the outlet may be taken.

Certain pumps may be tried –

1. Vertical screw type pump – (Roto Pump)

2. Vacuum pump

However we have never seen such pumps in operation for pickle.

Tanks are definitely most economical in cost and life but due to above problems now days

HDPE drums are gaining popularity.

Packing of Pickle:

In our country still large quantity of pickle is sold loose. The shopkeeper displays various types of pickle in large glass jars, and weighs out desired quantity of pickle to his customers.

The customer trusts his shopkeeper for quality and not the brand name.

However gradually pickle packed in glass bottle appeared in market, under different brand and became popular. The trend started in Maharashtra/Gujarat. Glass bottled pickles are almost double in cost because of packing and transportation cost. But they look hygienic and appeals to brand conscious upper class.

With the advent of plastic, pickle packed in HDPE and later PET jars came up. HDPE jars are usually used for 1 kilo and more. They are opaque so does not show pickle, but are convenient, as they do not break in transit. Then came PET jar. They are transparent, with good eye appeal and safe for pickle. Polycarbonate bottles are best for pickles but they are still very costly.

An in between loose and packed pickle is pickle packed in flexible pouches. It started with plain LD pouches that still are most common for economic reason. But they have low shelf life, as they are permeable to oxygen, so pickles become soon dark due to oxidation. Gradually multiplayer pouches also ware used, which offers better protection. In our country mostly PE/LD is used.

Saran layer is preferred because of its oxygen resistance, but it is not easily available. Primacore is a type of LD that should be used as sealing layer as it does not leaks easily. But it is not available easily. Only big manufacturers can supply it. The company manufacturing primacore does not supply it in small quantity so only large manufacturer can get it. Poor seal will cause leakage of pack.

Flat LD/multilayer bags do not have very good eye appeal, so now a days stand up pouches are used, which cost in between glass and plastic and have good appeal. These can be used for display on shelves.

So now there is large choice for the packer. To sum up

For catering – 5/6 kilo HDPE/PET jars, even 20 kilo HDPE Jars or 4 gallon canisters.
For consumers best is still 400 gms glass bottle. However pet bottles are becoming popular.
For cost conscious housewife 200 gms LD pouches (At local level) is common. However Multilayer standipouches with colorful printed labels are coming up as in between glass and pouch.

Machines:

Pickle manufacturing is still largely manual. Fruits are washed (or even cut unwashed) in bamboo baskets. Cut by knives, sitting on floor, mixed with salt and spices in large aluminum treys and filled into 4-gallon tins. The tin is topped with rasa (Spiced thin brine). The tins are soldered and stacked. When pickle is to be prepared, the tins are opened and content dropped in trey or floor, more spices and little oil is mixed and filled into final containers. Oil is added to the final container only.

This type of factory does not require much investment in machines.

In a modern factory the process may be as bellow:

Fruits/vegetables are weighed on platform balance, and stored in plastic crates.
These are pretreated – like tips are removed from raw mangoes, stem removed from green chillie etc.
The fruits are sorted on a conveyor belt, and defective fruit is removed.
Fruits are washed in washing machines, where it is soaked, rubbed and spray washed and finally washed with chlorinated water.
These are stored in perforated plastic crates to drip dry.
If required these are peeled mechanically. Abrasive peeler for carrot, Ginger brush peeler, Garlic peeler etc.
Due to different shapes and sizes of fruits, and vegetables various types of cutting machines are needed – mango cutting, lime cutting, chillie cutting and also a multipurpose dicer.
For grinding of spices – generally a pulverizer is used.
For mixing of pickles a slow speed ribbon blender is best.
Pickles are stored in drums mostly
For filling pickles various filling machines are available

Vacuum filler, piston filler and screw type of fillers for bottles
Jar fillers for bulk/catering pack filling
Form Fill and Seal machine for filling in pouches. Or one may manage with hand filling and a sealer machine.

12. Oil topping – Pipetting machine

Automatic labeling machine, batch coding machine, carton filling and strapping machines or shrink packing lines.

Thus it is possible to manufacture and pack pickle just with knife and treys and funnel for filling bottles. On the other side there are highly mechanized factories. Of course it is still not possible to achieve the degree of mechanization, possible say in dairy or ketchup industry, but fair degree of mechanization is achievable.

Quality Control:

Like any other food products pickles should also be subjected to quality checks, and laboratory analysis before it goes in market. Quality parameters should be set and strictly adhered. Simple laboratory test are enough.

Salt, acidity, pH, should be analyzed for every batch, by standard analytical methods.

Drained weight, and physical test like color, flavor, texture etc. are important.

Presence of foreign matter is to be observed.

In packed pickles Net weight, topping oil, quality of seal and labeling should be checked.

Preparation of Pickle sample for analysis: Oil in pickle interferes with accurate analysis of water-soluble ingredients like salt and acid. In different aliquot from same bottle oil quantity will differ in different sample. Say in a 20 gms sample there may be some time 3 gms of oil and another time it may be 5 grams. As salt and acid is only in water part, naturally two analyses will differ. To overcome it best is to prepare a paste of pickle, without crushing it much. Squeeze through muslin to remove large particles. Take say 50 gms in a tube and centrifuge it at high speed. Oil will come on top and fibers will settle in bottom. Pipette out middle liquid, make up volume in a volumetric flask and analyze for salt and acidity as usual.

Drained weight can be obtained by taking a weighed sample of pickle on sieve, washing it under running water to free it of gravy, draining it for two minutes and then weighing.

Conclusion:

Pickle manufacturing is very ancient art, and only some ware expert who could make pickle that will last. Now the science behind it is better understood. And it is possible to manufacture pickle that will be cost reasonable, look attractive, taste good and will last long.

_______________________0_______________________________

18.3.19

FOOD TECHNOLOGY

19 March 2018

Small Scale Production of Pickle

Small Scale Production of Pickle

FOOD LAWS

Preservation of pickle in oil

Other Quality Points:

Raw Material

Processing technique

Preparation of Spices

Mixing of Pickle

A typical Spice Recipe

9 comments: