Formulating with Fruit

October 2003

Formulating with Fruit

By Karen Banasiak
Contributing Editor

Years ago, shopping for fruits at the local market meant choosing from whatever was in season. Today, advancements in freezing, drying and canning, improvements in packaging and shipping, and the expansion of trade around the world help to bring a virtual cornucopia of fruit to our shores.

Humans consumed fruit during prehistoric times and began cultivating different varieties about 6,000 years ago. Fresh fruits became a dietary staple, and the development of simple processing techniques, such as drying, allowed people to enjoy fruit throughout the year.

Ancient Greeks and Romans revered certain fruits for their supposed aphrodisiac and medicinal properties. The kingdoms of Europe elevated other fruits to royal delicacies. And today, what would a warm summer day be without a tall, cold glass of lemonade or a bowl of fruit salad? Or, imagine a crisp autumn afternoon without warm apple pie or a cup of tea infused with raspberry. Fruits are truly versatile, incorporated into a variety of products.

Bumper crop
Today, more than 400 million tons of fruit are produced every year around the world. Farmers in California, Florida and Washington, the three largest fruit-producing U.S. states according to the USDA, produce many fruits, including apples, oranges, grapes and strawberries.

In addition to the fruity delights grown domestically, supermarkets carry tasty treats such as mangoes from the Caribbean, kiwis from New Zealand and some lesser-known fruits such as sapodillas and rambutans from Central America. The United States also imports fruits from South America, Asia and Australia. Mexico and Chile import the most fruit to the United States, shipping more than half of all fresh (excluding bananas) and frozen fruit into this country.

Increases in the amounts of fruit available have led consumers, chefs and food scientists to formulate with fruits, creating foods that match Mom’s apple pie or conceiving new visual and taste sensations. These innovations go beyond the basic fruit cocktail or the much-maligned fruitcake to include savory dishes, creamy beverages and health bars. Many recipes and food products feature the more-popular fruits in the United States, such as oranges, grapes, apples and bananas, due to their wide acceptability. Others are beginning to incorporate sweet, sour, acidic or tangy fruits with beautiful-sounding names traditionally found in far-away lands: cherimoyas, sapodillas, carambolas, pepinos and tamarillos — in salads, salsas, sauces, jams and jellies, sorbet and ice cream.

A flowery birth
All fruits develop from a flower’s ovary. (Incidentally, to settle an age-old argument once and for all, tomatoes develop in this manner and therefore botanists consider them a fruit.) Categorizing fruits into groups depends on the basic differences of the seed-bearing structures.

An indentation at the stem end of the fruit, remnants of a flower at the other end and a core containing seeds characterize pome fruits. These include apples, pears, quinces and meddlars. Raw quinces are inedible; however, this highly aromatic fruit is used to make jelly and, in Spain, is combined with sugar and lemon juice to make a fruit paste called membrillo, which is used in pastries, spread on bread or served with cheese.

Apples and pears are commercially available in several hundred varieties that differ in size, color, texture and flavor. Most varieties of apples can be eaten raw. Certain varieties retain more of their shape and flavor after cooking and can be dried, canned, poached, stewed, broiled or baked, and used in jams, jellies and fillings for baked goods and to complement meat-based recipes. “The variety of apples chosen for a filling will make a difference in characteristics of a pastry filling,” explains Scott Summers, director of technical services, Tree Top Inc., Selah, WA. “Red Delicious apples tend to cook up to a sweeter, softer dice. Golden Delicious apples vary from early to late season, allowing flexibility in texture and flavor. Granny Smith apples are typically a firm, tart dice in a filling.”

Stone fruits, or drupes, including peaches, plums and cherries, have a single pit surrounded by soft, juicy flesh. Canned, frozen and dried peaches function well in numerous applications. The fruit’s sweet-tangy flavor and fine-textured flesh makes it a delightful ingredient in salads, chutneys, sauces, salsas, relishes and baked goods. Apricots and nectarines work in many of the same types of applications as peaches. Sweet and tart cherries make tasty cake and pie fillings and add a delicious flavor to beverages, sauces, salsas and meat dishes. Maraschino cherries — pitted cherries macerated in flavored syrup — top ice-cream sundaes. Bullaces, sloes, greengages and damsons (all varieties of plums) differ from one another by their sweetness and tartness, but all are good for jams and jellies. The tart damson adds flavor to savory meat dishes. Sloe, of course, is the main ingredient in sloe gin.

From berries to babacos
Other fruit categories include: berries, which are thin-skinned and relatively soft; citrus, which have a thick, leathery skin containing aromatic oils, and a juicy, acidic flesh; melons, encased in a thick rind; and tropical and exotic fruits.

When fresh, berries make beautiful garnishes and decorations for sweet and savory dishes because of their small size, bright colors and different textures. The softer berries, such as raspberries and strawberries, often lose their shape after processing. Their types — blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, loganberries, boysenberries, mulberries, cranberries — seem as infinite as their uses: as ingredients and flavoring for alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages; fillings in pies, cakes and other bakery goods; jams and jellies; and ingredients in dressings, salsas, sauces, glazes, ice cream, sorbets, stuffing, meat dishes and salads.

Mention the word “citrus” and breakfast beverages come to mind. Oranges and grapefruits make tasty juice, but that is not their sole function. Lemon and orange oils flavor tea, baked goods and other foods. In foodservice, “We are seeing other uses for citrus as it continues to move toward the center of the plate as an ingredient in salsas and pasta,” says Susan Boyer, foodservice consultant for Driscoll’s and Sunkist, Food Marketing Resources, San Ramon, CA. Lemons and limes complement fish and accent alcoholic drinks, dressings, marinades and desserts. Oranges such as Mandarins add characteristic citrus notes to stews and marinades for poultry and pork. “In addition, chefs featuring Latin, Caribbean, Mediterranean and Asian dishes on menus are finding inspiration with citrus for their recipes,” she says.

Traditional uses of melons include fruit salads or garnishes; however, chefs use melons such as cantaloupe, charentais, galia, muskmelon, honeydew, Crenshaw and watermelon to impart a sweet taste to dressings, cream cheese and mayonnaise, which can coat vegetables, fish, meat and poultry.

Pineapples and papayas don’t just give foods a tropical accent, they make excellent natural alternatives to chemical meat tenderizers. The enzymes bromelain, found in pineapples, and papain, found in papayas, degrade protein, which helps to tenderize meat. Kiwis and babacos also contain proteases.

Tropical and exotic fruits, such as bananas, plantains, passion fruit, pomegranates, guavas, jujubes and dragon fruit, come in a variety of often strange and unusual shapes and sizes, helping chefs create beautiful decorations. For example, cutting a carambola crosswise results in a star-shaped piece. Use tropical and exotic fruits in the same applications as other fruits, such as jellies and beverages. Cookbooks featuring recipes from Central and South America and Asia can inspire formulations for processed foods, such as salad dressings, relishes, custards, smoothies, liqueurs and breads, as well as provide ideas for serving the fruit fresh, puréed, poached, baked or fried, or as an ingredient or side dish in savory and meat applications.

An apple a day...
Fruit may be nature’s most perfect food. Naturally available in a broad variety of colors, shapes, sizes and textures, they make convenient, portable, guilt-free snacks, and most are wonderfully aromatic. Packed with vitamins, minerals and other beneficial compounds, fruits contribute significantly to good nutrition. With today’s heightened interest in healthful foods, product designers might look at the added nutrition as one way to add value to a product.

Fruits’ nutritional benefits are endless. Bananas, grapes, guavas, strawberries and raspberries contain potassium. Figs, dates, apples and pomegranates are high in fiber. Most fruits, especially citrus and berries, contain vitamin C. Beta-carotene-rich fruits include Mandarin oranges, mangoes and apricots. Other common vitamins and minerals found in fruits are vitamin A (persimmons, papayas, mangoes and cherries), vitamin B (strawberries, figs and peaches), niacin (gooseberries, guavas, bananas and raspberries), riboflavin (bananas and raspberries) and phosphorus (gooseberries and nectarines).

“It’s possible to develop a blend that encompasses a great variety of healthful fruit and vegetable characteristics,” says Summers. “For example, the antioxidant characteristics of apple, blueberry, cranberry and the benefits of oat fiber, etc., can be developed to produce a product that combines all or many benefits in a single cocktail-like ingredient.”

One of the most widely studied aspects of fruits is their ability to possibly prevent many different diseases, such as cancer, heart disease and diabetes. Many varieties of fruit, such as plums, cherries, blueberries and strawberries, contain significant levels of antioxidants — compounds that neutralize free radicals linked to cell damage and the development of cancer and heart disease. Research shows these antioxidants may help significantly to inhibit the mutation of certain cancer cells and protect artery walls from the damage that ultimately leads to plaque build-up, clogged arteries and cardiovascular disease. Phytochemicals, which are naturally occurring, non-nutrient compounds such as flavonoids, ellagic acid, phenols and carotenoids, are responsible for the color, texture, smell and flavor in plants, and have disease-preventing capabilities.

Natural nutrients
New products can take advantage of these benefits. “One of the most recent developments is a low-moisture, naturally sweetened apple piece that has been infused with a red-wine extract,” explains Summers. “Red-wine polyphenols have received a lot of publicity over the past few years as a method of reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer. Amazingly, a mere 18 grams of these extract-infused dried-apple pieces have the same amount of flavonoid phenols as five glasses of wine, and the dietary-fiber equivalent of one whole apple.”

Recent studies conducted on the health benefits of certain fruits show promise in fruits’ potential anti-inflammatory characteristics, improvement of older adults’ cognitive abilities and prevention of urinary-tract infections.

If you’re worried that you need to eat an entire orchard of fruit to reap these nutritional benefits, fear not — sensible portions will do the trick. A serving of strawberries (eight medium-sized berries, or about 147 grams) provides 16% daily value (based on a 2,000-calorie diet) of folate (B12), 160% daily value of vitamin C and 16% daily value of fiber (4 grams), as well as high amounts of antioxidants. One kiwi provides more than a day’s worth of required vitamin C, one grapefruit yields almost double the requirement and one orange provides twice the daily requirement. Half of a mango (140 grams) contains 40% daily value of vitamin A.

The American Heart Association, Dallas, recommends a total daily dietary-fiber intake of 25 to 30 grams. With the variety of fiber-rich fruits available, it’s easy to reach this level. One medium-sized apple and a 1-cup serving (about 140 grams) of blueberries each contain about 5 grams of dietary fiber. One cup (144 grams) of blackberries provides 6 grams of fiber, and 1 cup (125 grams) of raspberries packs a whopping 8 grams of fiber.

Formulators can even take advantage of the fiber without using the whole fruit. For example, apple fiber is made during apple processing. “Solids are removed and dehydrated to less than 5% moisture and 40% total dietary fiber — 10% soluble fiber and 30% insoluble fiber,” says Summers. “Because of its bland flavor, apple fiber can serve as a coating for other fruit ingredients in dry-cereal applications. This helps prevent clumping. Apple fiber has high water-binding capacity and can function as a thickener. It is typically used in baking applications and may be used in fruit leather.”

While rates of heart disease, diabetes and other ailments escalate as the waistlines of Americans expand, fruit’s nutrient-dense nature, low calories and disease-fighting compounds make it an excellent ingredient choice. “Consumption is expected to continue to increase as national attention rises on health and obesity concerns and consumers increasingly shop for healthy, convenient foods,” says Chris Bartley Christian, director of product and marketing, California Strawberry Commission, Watsonville, CA.

This growing concern, coupled with newly discovered health benefits, increase fresh and processed fruits’ incorporation into food products. But food scientists, manufacturers and chefs use them for more than health reasons: Fresh and processed fruits, including dried, concentrates, powders and flavors, add visual appeal and texture, enhance flavors and colors of products, and act as humectants and antimicrobials.

“Fruit is natural, wholesome and nutritious, but in order to sell, it must also perform to consumer demands,” Summers comments. “When quality is non-negotiable, food-product developers need to fully consider the functional contributions of their fruit ingredients to their end-product quality.” Fruit growers and processors supply a wide variety of different products for just about any application.

Popularity contest
Two widely used fruit products are fresh and frozen. Consumers and foodservice operations tend to use fresh fruit, while frozen finds favor with processed-food manufacturers.

“Customers today are very interested in health and nutrition, and the perception of ‘fresh’ makes the appeal of fresh fruit very high,” says Boyer. She adds that while fresh fruits, especially berries, are popular ingredients in pies, tarts, cakes and other sweets, savory dishes are increasingly using them in applications such as salsas and sauces for protein-based dishes. “With the savory dishes, we are seeing more of a reliance on berries for the addition of color and flavor,” she says.
Manufacturers, and sometimes chefs, use frozen and other processed fruits as ingredients in other food products. Fruits are bulk-frozen, alone or with added sweeteners, or individually quick-frozen (IQF), a process that helps to minimize damage to their texture and nutritional value.

Careful handling and storage of fresh and frozen fruits helps to minimize shelf-life-shortening damage. Optimum storage of fresh fruit is usually refrigeration at less than 45ºF. When stored under these conditions, most fresh fruits last for about 1 week or less. Apples are one of the exceptions: Some varieties will stay fresh for up to 3 months if stored in a cool, dry place. Store frozen fruit between 0º and -10ºF; keep frozen until ready to use to avoid cell damage resulting from freeze-thaw cycles.

While some processing may actually deteriorate fruits’ nutritive values, oftentimes, frozen versions are actually more nutrient-dense than their fresh counterparts. Payne states that because frozen fruits usually undergo the freezing process within a couple of hours of harvesting, they retain more nutrients than some fresh fruits, which degrade during storage, shipping and time spent sitting on store shelves.

Liquid diet
Liquid juices and purées are also common fruit ingredients. These include:
• fresh-squeezed juice;
• single-strength juice (fresh or frozen fruit crushed and pressed, filtered, pasteurized, packaged and sometimes frozen);
• juice concentrates (fresh or frozen fruit crushed, heat- or enzyme- treated to remove pectin and starch, filtered, concentrated to remove water, packaged and sometimes frozen);
• single-strength purée (fresh or frozen fruit crushed, pasteurized, packaged and sometimes frozen);
• purée concentrate (fresh or frozen fruit crushed, heat- or enzyme- treated to remove pectin and starch, filtered, concentrated to remove water, packaged and sometimes frozen).

In foodservice and retail shelves, fresh-squeezed juice continues to rise in popularity, not only as a traditional breakfast beverage, but also as an ingredient in flavored drinks, such as martinis, Cosmopolitans, daiquiris and margaritas, and in nonalcoholic drinks, such as smoothies and mocktails. In addition to fresh-squeezed oranges and lemons, other citrus fruits, as well as berries and pome fruits, provide a varied color and flavor profile to many of these applications.

Food scientists use concentrates and purées made from apples, peaches, plums, cherries, berries, grapes and other fruits as sweeteners. These also serve as color enhancers and provide flavor in baked goods, ice cream, sorbets, yogurts, sauces and glazes; syrups for canned fruits; fillings for pies, cookies and cakes; and beverages. “Depending on the specific function one is looking for,” says Bill Haddad, vice president of technical services, American Fruit Processors, Pacoima, CA, “concentrates do contribute significantly to color; taste, such as sweetness; mouthfeel; tartness; and functionality of finished products. Concentrates tend to provide a more-rounded flavor to products and may reduce the amount of flavors that need to be added.”

Fructose, approximately 20% sweeter than sucrose, is abundant in fruits, as are other sugars. For example, single-strength apple juice contains approximately 5.9% fructose, 2.7% sucrose and 2.0% other sugars. Many consider fruit juice as a natural alternative to processed sugar, and some manufacturers use juice concentrates as sweeteners so as to make a claim on the front panel. However, Summers cautions: “There is no cost benefit to using juice concentrates over sugar. It actually costs more. The benefit is for a sugarless claim or a fruit claim.”

Fruit concentrates and purées also act as humectants, antimicrobials and mold inhibitors, affording manufacturers natural alternatives to artificial additives. The high sorbitol content (15%) of dried-plum concentrates and purées (as well as dried plums and other processed dried-plum products), for example, functions as an effective humectant to help keep bakery goods soft and moist and meats juicy. The dried-plum concentrate and purée’s malic-acid content helps to inhibit microbial spoilage and retard mold growth. “The result is longer shelf life with fewer ingredients and a much cleaner label that consumers will understand,” says James Degan, consultant, California Dried Plum Board, Sacramento, CA.

According to the California Raisin Advisory Board, the propionic-acid content (500 to 600 ppm) and low pH (2.0 to 3.5) helps raisin concentrate (in addition to raisins and other processed-raisin products) to prevent or slow the growth of bacteria and mold in products such as breads.

To incorporate concentrates into formulas, Haddad advises calculating the sugar solids and, sometimes, the acid. For example, a single-strength apple juice contains about 12º Brix (a measure of percent soluble-solids), while a concentrate will have about 70º Brix.
In beverages, manufacturers need to determine the levels of concentrates based on the juice content claim they make on their products’ labels. “Each juice has an FDA single-strength Brix value for a 100% juice claim,” says Haddad. “The percent juice content is determined by making sure you add enough solids from each fruit declared to sum up to the percent juice you wish to claim.”

The concentrating process increases the amount of fruit solids and decreases the water available for the growth of many spoilage microorganisms. Juices, even if pasteurized, have a limited shelf life of 2 to 4 weeks and must be refrigerated. Concentrates, however, can be stored for short periods of time at ambient temperatures and be refrigerated for several months without spoilage, making them effective when trying “to avoid spoilage that is typically inherent with juices,” says Haddad.

Fruit concentrates provide natural sweetness, flavor, moisture and antimicrobial capabilities, as well as a longer shelf life than some other liquid products. Haddad cautions, however, that understanding the objective of the project and the application, and the properties of the concentrate, are keys to achieving the best results. Food scientists can determine the amount of fruit concentrate to use in a food product by calculating an equivalent level of concentrate to make a sugar substitution. They must consider the amounts and the sweetness levels of the natural sugars — fructose, glucose and sucrose — present in the concentrate when using it as a natural sweetener. These sugars have hydroscopic or hydrophilic properties, says Haddad. “One must carefully choose a concentrate not only for its flavor and color contributions, but also for the properties that will ultimately affect [the product]. It can mean the difference between a soft, chewy cookie and a crisp, dry cookie.”

Cut and dried
Dried fruits offer additional sensory and functional characteristics to recipes and food products. Types include:
• dehydrated (fresh or frozen fruit dehydrated to a suitable moisture content, then further processed, such as cutting or coating);
• freeze-dried (fresh or frozen fruit quick-frozen, sent to further processing, often a vacuum dryer, to reduce moisture to low levels, then packaged in moisture-proof packages);
• drum-dried (fresh, frozen or puréed fruit drum-dried and ground into specified powder or flakes);
• infused.

For the most part, dehydrated and freeze-dried fruits retain their natural flavors, colors and nutritional values upon rehydration. Freeze-dried fruits also retain the particle size of the fresh fruit before processing, a key quality in applications where piece identity is important.
Drum-dried fruits, available primarily in powder form, provide natural flavor, color and sweetness to applications where piece identity or particulate concentration is not important. Manufacturers are also finding wider applications due to their composition. In apples, for example, “A soluble and insoluble fiber content of approximately 20% contributes water-absorbing and -binding capabilities, tenderization and nutritional enhancement,” says Summers. “Sorbitol, present at roughly 10%, provides humectancy, dough and batter stability, and control of water activity (aw). A fruit-sugar level of about 67% adds sweetness, humectancy, surface browning and aw control. Fruit acids, primarily malic acid, contribute to flavor enhancement and microbial inhibition. Vitamins and minerals offer nutritional and label appeal.”

Fruit powder also may extend shelf life of bakery products. “We compared the shelf life of full-fat brownies, muffins and cookies to products made with fruit powder in place of the fat,” Summers says. “The items containing fruit powder had an approximately 30% longer shelf life.” He attributes this to the ability of the fruit powder to attract and bind water. Naturally occurring sorbitol and reducing sugars function as humectants, and fruit acids reduce pH and inhibit microbial growth in products with added moisture.

Summers recommends a usage level of flake powder of 2% to 5% in dry bakery mixes and in-plant doughs. “Processors are using fruit powder to produce low-fat cookies, tender snack cakes, flat bread with a rich brown color, coffee cake with enhanced flavor and moisture retention, and pizza dough that stays moist and tender under infrared lights,” he notes. “Other bakery applications include: bagels, scones, muffin and brownie mixes, English muffins, and crumb-cake topping.”

Infusion replaces water in the fruit with sugar or juice solids. This results in a 5% to 22% moisture fruit piece that retains a soft, pliable texture, even under dry, shelf-stable conditions.

Slices and dices
Suppliers offer dehydrated, infused or freeze-dried fruits in whole pieces or cut and diced into pie pieces, rings, chips, flakes, granules and other shapes. The variety of dried-fruit shapes and sizes adds pizzazz and visual appeal to garnishes, salads and baked foods, as well as functional capabilities to various applications.

Incorporating dried fruits of the correct size helps to achieve optimum products. For example, larger, heavier pieces of fruit sink to the bottom of batters (that’s gravity at work), while smaller, lighter pieces of fruit remain suspended throughout, leading to better fruit dispersion and much more attractive products.

A multitude of food applications contain dried-fruit ingredients. These include hot and ready-to-eat cereals, and sweets, such as cookies, cakes, pies, pastries and muffins. For example, manufacturers add freeze-dried berries to ready-to-eat (RTE) cereals for color, texture and to attract health-conscious customers.

Abby Taylor, communications specialist, California Strawberry Commission, Watsonville, CA, points out that freeze-dried strawberries continue to grow in popularity as cereal manufacturers add them to new products. “The new cereals containing berries have been recognized as the most successful cereal-product introductions in the past five years,” she says.

“Low-moisture apples are used extensively in the cereal, bakery and snack food industries,” says Summers. “The cereal industry utilizes low-moisture apple products such as granules, powders, flakes and dices in RTE, cooked or instant-type breakfast cereals. The apples can also be colored and flavored with other fruit flavors — strawberry, peach, blueberry, etc. — to increase their versatility in cereal products.”

Infused products also make valuable additions to cereal and other products. “By infusing apple pieces — slices and dices — with various humectants, such as sugar, color and flavoring, juice solids, or high fructose syrup, researchers at Tree Top offer the ability to customize shelf-stable, dehydrated fruit ingredients that retain their soft texture under dry-packaged, intermediate-moisture and/or freezer conditions,” says Summers. “To preserve ingredient-label integrity, Tree Top can infuse its apple pieces with characterizing fruit-juice solids. Also, low-cost, bland-flavored fruit pieces, such as apple or pear, can be infused with characterizing fruit flavors and/or flavor enhancers to simulate more expensive fruit pieces, such as blueberries or strawberries.”

Product designers not only incorporate dried-fruit products in sweet applications, cereals and other breakfast foods, but also in meat dishes, stuffing, sauces and glazes. Dried fruits act as natural sweeteners in sweet and savory applications, and as fat replacers, thickeners, humectants and bases for other flavor and color profiles. Dried fruits such as apples and plums do not have intense characterizing flavors, and so will not change the flavor of the overall application.

Over the last decade or so, manufacturers responding to consumer demands for more healthy foods have created reduced-calorie, low-fat and fat-free food products. But consumers do not want to sacrifice appealing taste and texture for reduced fat and calories, so manufacturers are turning to certain dried fruits as key ingredients to create tasty, more-healthful food products.

Three of the more common dried fruits used as fat replacers in baked goods are apples, plums and figs. The high fiber and pectin contents of these three dried fruits act as thickeners and water binders, while malic acid enhances flavor. “The addition of sugar in a fat-reduced baked good results in a sweet flavor spike that is short-lived when chewing,” says Degan. “Malic acid coats the mouth, just like fat, to potentiate the flavors of these fat-reduced products to extend flavor for a more satisfying eating experience.”

Summers also mentions a customer that uses fruit powder to replace “40% of the butter blend and 18% of the eggs to make a reduced-fat, crisp, chocolate-chip cookie. Scones maintain their rich butter taste even after removing 50% of the butter and 22% of the eggs.”

A canny alternative
Shelf-stable products round out the last category of processed-fruit products. They include fresh or frozen fruit canned with added syrup, sealed and heated; or products mixed with sweeteners and stabilizers, such as starch and gum, heated and packaged as fillings. The canning process packages food into airtight aluminum or glass containers and then heats the containers to kill most of the microorganisms, including the dangerous Clostridium botulinum.

The shelf stability and low cost of canned fruits and fillings make these products ideal alternatives to fresh or frozen fruits in certain applications. However, because the thermal heating process of canning degrades fruit’s texture, making it soft and mushy, adding sugar syrups to the product before heating helps minimize textural loss in the fruit by strengthening its cell walls.

Canned fruit — particularly peaches, pineapples, Mandarin oranges, pears, cherries and blueberries — and canned fruit fillings — such as cherries, figs, prunes, blueberries and strawberries — function well in many recipes that call for fresh or frozen.

Of course, the most-popular use of canned fillings is as toppings and fillings in bakery goods, such as Danishes and cakes. Foodservice establishments can use canned fruit fillings as delicious and eye-appealing toppings over cake, ice cream, French toast, waffles or pancakes. The thickened syrup helps to suspend the fruit and coats these food products without making them too moist.

Processors also sell hot-fill (nonretorted) fillings for the bakery industry. Typically, they use a single fruit, but sometimes adding other fruits can provide a benefit. “The baking industry uses custom-made fillings — apple, raspberry, blueberry, etc. — which are formulated using evaporated apples for flavor, texture, piece identity and extending other higher-cost fruit,” notes Summers. “A baker may also develop his or her own formulation for a pastry filling. The apple fillings are deposited on pastries and strudels, or in soft cookies and fruit bars. Fried apple pies, popular in fast-food restaurants, can utilize evaporated apples.”

A cornucopia of choices
Whether fresh, frozen, dried or canned, fruits are astoundingly versatile: They star in beverages (tea, water, alcohol, coffee and soda), confections (hard and soft candy, and coatings), sweet dishes (pies, tarts, cakes, cookies, frostings and fillings), savory dishes, salads, soups and breads. Their vibrant colors and varied textures add a festive touch to any meal, whether it is Thanksgiving dinner, a backyard barbecue or a quiet supper at home.

Manufacturers of processed foods containing fruits and processed fruits often need to adhere to standards of identity, which require specific levels of fruit in particular products. They cannot add a couple of pieces of fruit to a batch and call it “raisin bread” or “blueberry muffins,” explains Thomas Payne, food industry consultant, Thomas J. Payne Market Development, San Mateo, CA, which represents Washington Red Raspberry Commission, U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council and California Raisin Marketing Board.

Fruit standards in some processed foods are based on the parts per weight of the fruit to parts per weight of some other ingredient, or solids content. Fruit preserves, jellies and jams, fruit juices and canned fruits fall under these regulations.

Keep an open mind when formulating with fruit; you might surprise yourself with the flavor and color combinations created. Experiment by flavoring fruits with spices and herbs or combining two or more fruits together. Remember that fruits are not just for sweet bakery products or breakfast food; the tart or sweet flavors of fruits complement savory flavors as well. The results may be “fruitful” to say the least.

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