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Technical Briefs and Manuals: English
This pickle is more like a chutney since it is prepared by adding sugar, vinegar and salt to the fruits, followed by boiling which reduces the water content and increases the total soluble solids. The final product is a thick, slightly acidic spicy fruit preserve. Green papaya is required to make the pickle. The time of harvest of green papaya is crucial to the success of the pickle. It should be green and very firm and harvested before the fruit begins to ripen. Once the papaya starts to ripen the acidity decreases and the flesh becomes too soft. However, if it is harvested too early the pickle will have a bitter milky flavour. The yield of usable fruit from whole green papaya is approximately 70%.
The acetic acid (vinegar) stops the pickle deteriorating once the jar has been opened. The amount of acetic acid required in the recipe can be calculated using the following formula, known as the preservation index. Acetic acid is used instead of vinegar because it is much cheaper.
Total acidity x 100 = preservation index (should be no less than 3.6%) (100 - total solids)
Reference: Pearson (1976). The Chemical Analysis of Foods 7th edition Churchill Livingstone.
When making vinegar-based chutneys and pickles, it is essential that the preservation index is above 3.6. This helps to ensure that there is the correct balance of acidity and total solids (sugars) to preserve the pickle and give it a reasonable shelf life. However, the formula does not work for pickles with a sugar content above 55% total solids. For this recipe the total solids are approximately 60% so the formula cannot be applied. Pickles with a higher sugar content produce a sweeter product than those that have a higher vinegar content. The sugar has a preserving effect as in a jam.
The product can he packed in glass jars or polythene bags (at least 100 micron, preferably a thicker gauge) for smaller quantities. Polythene bags are a cheap form of packaging that can be made into various sizes, which is useful for marketing to different consumer groups. However, polythene is not a very good barrier for containing aromas, which can attract insects which will eat through the polythene and spoil the product.
This technical brief should be read together with the brief ‘Pickles and chutneys’ which gives an overview of the process and the quality assurance points. As with all products, it is important to carry out a market and technical feasibility study before starting production.
If limes are not available when the papaya is in season, the juice can be extracted and stored in bulk until it is required. Sulphur dioxide or benzoic acid (1000-1500ppm) is added to preserve it. Garlic can be ground in bulk and kept for long periods by mixing it with the salt which is required in the recipe.
To make 100 x 1lb (450g) jars of papaya pickle requires approximately 18kg of sugar and 27kg of green papaya.
Wash the whole papaya in clean water and discard any which is bad.
Remove the skin with a stainless steel knife. Cut the fruit into longitudinal segments and remove the seeds, then cut the segments into very small pieces (5mm cubes). This can be done by hand or more quickly using a fruit dicing machine such as the Kenwood dicer.
Stainless steel equipment is preferred for fruit as it does not stain the flesh and does not react with the acidity of the juice. If stainless steel is not available, make sure the knives and spoons are not rusted.
Mix the papaya pieces with the sugar in a stainless steel saucepan. Leave the mixture for 10 minutes so the sugar draws out the water from the fruit pieces. Boil the mixture for 10 minutes to evaporate off some of the water from the papaya, and soften the fruit pieces. Add all the dry spices to the saucepan and continue cooking. Add the lime juice and acetic acid at the end of the cooking process. This prevents the loss of volatiles, which is very important in the case of the acetic acid.
The whole batch should be boiled down to 90% of the initial total weight of the ingredients in the saucepan. To do this, weigh the saucepan before starting to boil and at intervals until it is 90% of the original weight. With practice, an experienced processor will know how long to boil for and the desired consistency of the pickle. This will ensure that the pickle will have the correct consistency. Boiling down to the same finishing weight means that the same number of jars will be filled each time and produce a standard product.
Hot fill the pickle into jars which have been cleaned and steam sterilised. Make sure the jars are still hot so they do not crack when they are filled. The lip of the jar should be clean and dry (wipe with clean tissue paper or steam) before placing the lid on it. Polythene bags do not need to be steamed inside as they are usually clean. Do not use recycled polythene bags. The pickle should not be hotter than 90°C as this will soften the polythene. When filling the bags make sure that the pickle does not come into contact with the top of the bag otherwise it will not heat seal. The simplest way to do this is to use a wide neck funnel (which the pickle can be pushed down through) which slips inside a tube placed in the opening of the bag. The hot filling of the pickle into hermetically sealed jars will preserve the product until the jar is opened.
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Practical Action technical briefs: Food labelling Pickled Cucumbers Pickled Dry Salted Lime Pickled Cabbage (Kimchi) Pickled Fruits Pickles and chutneys Preservation of Fruit and Vegetables: Agrodok 3, Agromisa 1997 Pickles of Bangladesh, ITDG Publishing 1994
Agromisa Postbus 41 6700 AA Wageningen Netherlands Tel: +31 (0)317 412217 Fax: +31 (0)317 419178 E-mail: agromisa@wxs.nl Web: http://www.agralin.nl/agromisa Agromisa is a Dutch non-profit organisation affiliated with the Agricultural University of Wageninen in the Netherlands. Agromisa provides information and advice on small-scale sustainable agriculture and related topics in order to support and strengthen self-reliance of the rural populations in the South.
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Viale Terme di Caracalla 00100 Rome Italy http://www.fao.org/ Information network on post harvest operations (INPhO). Website on post harvest information includes a virtual library, post harvest compendium and decision support tools to assist entrepreneurs in establishing agro enterprises (www.fao.org/ag/ags/subjects/en/harvest/inpho.html) Inpho@fao.org
Practical Action The Schumacher Centre for Technology and Development Bourton-on-Dunsmore Rugby Warwickshire CV23 9QZ United Kingdom Tel: +44 (0)1926 634400 Fax: +44 (0)1926 634401 infoserv@practicalaction.org.uk www.PracticalAction.org
This technical brief was updated by S. Azam Ali in March 2009. Dr. S Azam-Ali is a consultant in food processing and nutrition with over 15 years experience of working with small-scale processors in developing countries.
This article was added to our catalogue on Saturday 21 October, 2006.
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