ITDG 
Interdev Agroalimentaire  

Small-scale processing of dried apricots

	Type de fiche	Techniques/Technologies
	Mise en œuvre	ITDG(Royaume Uni)
	
	Zone géographique	Global; 
	Mots clés	SECHAGE; ABRICOT

	Echelle d’action	Régional (transnational)
	Public(s) cible(s)	Small- and medium-scale food processors

Contexte
The main traded apricot product is dried apricot. Dried apricots are a good source of vitamin A, iron and sugar, and where they are in abundance, their processing can provide valuable income-generating opportunities.  The methods of drying apricots vary from simple sun drying through solar drying to large-scale artificial dryers.  The traditional sun drying of apricots involves de-stoning the fruit and placing it on flat rocks for approximately six to nine days.  This produces a dried fruit with an uneven dark brown colour and a tough, texture. 

Sulphur dioxide is normally added to the fruit as a preservative and to give the dried product a brighter orange colour. Sulphur fumigation is a hygienic, low-cost preservation technique that maintains colour of the food.  There is a small but growing market for apricots that have not had sulphur dioxide added, in 'health food shops' in Europe and the United States of America.

Problématique / Objectifs
When producing dried apricots, it is essential that the raw material is of top quality.  The apricots should be just ripe with a firm texture.  Over-ripe apricots should not be used as the texture will be too soft. The colour should be orange, maybe with a red blush depending upon the variety. Yellow and green apricots are under-ripe and should not be used as they will be less sweet and lack flavour. The fruits should be free from mould growth and surface cracks and blemishes. 

Traditionally, apricots are harvested by shaking branches and letting the fruit fall to the ground. The fruit is then either eaten fresh, sun-dried or heaped in fields prior to pit removal.  This practice, which is common in many countries, results in damaged, bruised and dirty fruit.  A high quality dried apricot cannot be produced from a poor quality apricot so this method of harvesting should be discouraged. To reduce damage, fruit can collected in outspread sheets that are held above ground level. 

Sun drying is a traditional method of preservation that takes place in hot dry regions.  At the most basic level, the apricot halves are placed in the sun on a clean flat surface (eg a roof) with the cut side facing up. If climatic conditions are favourable _ ie it is hot and humidity is low - drying is very rapid. However, the fruit will be contaminated by insects, dirt and dust. This can be reduced by covering the fruit with fine muslin cloth or mosquito netting.  The end product is dark brown leathery pieces with a sweet apricot flavour that will keep for several months provided that the humidity is low. 

Description/Mise en oeuvre
The apricots can either be dried whole, complete with the kernel, or can be halved and the kernel removed.  This is largely a matter of tradition and local taste.  In the north of Pakistan for example, where apricots are grown in abundance, both whole and halved apricots are dried.  Apricot halves dry more quickly than the whole fruits, which produces a higher quality product.

The process is fairly simple and involves the following stages:
  Collection and sorting of fruit
  Preparation
  Sulphuring
  Drying
  Packaging

Collection and sorting of fruit
The apricots should be picked by hand and placed carefully in a basket.  The harvesting basket and the hands of the harvester should be clean.  Only ripe fruits should be used. Over-ripe fruit will be too soft and take too long to dry. They also absorb too much sulphur dioxide. Under-ripe fruit is not sweet enough and produces a bland, colourless dried product.

Preparation
Discard all the damaged and bruised fruits as they produce low quality dried apricots. 
Wash the apricots in clean water. Halve the apricots to remove the stones. Traditionally the stones are removed by running water through baskets full of the fruit and separating the flesh from the stone with either hands or feet.  The two halves are then separated. Sometimes the two halves are left connected _ the product is more attractive if it is separated, but the choice depends on local taste. The stones are cracked to obtain the kernel, which can either be eaten or used to extract oil.

Sulphuring
Sulphur dioxide will prevent browning of the apricots.  The sulphur dioxide can either be added by dipping the apricots in a solution of sodium metabisulphite (sulphiting) or by placing the fruit in a chamber in which sulphur is burnt (sulphuring). Adding sodium metabisulphite can help to preserve the colour, although there are strict limits to the amount to add.  Many people prefer the taste of fruits that are not treated with this preservative.  The colour can be regulated without the addition of chemical preservatives.  Sulphuring is the better solution because in sulphiting, there is often an uneven penetration of sulphur dioxide and the fruit is made wet which increases the amount of drying needed and some soluble nutrients are lost.

The apricots need to be placed in a chamber in which sulphur is burnt for 2-3 hours.  2-4g of sulphur is needed for each kg of fresh apricot.  Care needs to be taken during the sulphuring to prevent sulphur dioxide from escaping from the chamber as it will cause breathing difficulties if inhaled.

Drying
Sun drying produces a dried apricot with a more desirable colour than artificial drying.  Solar drying can be used to reduce dust and dirt contamination.  If the harvest coincides with the rainy season, an artificial drier may be essential.

The apricots should be placed in the drier with their cups upwards and dried to a moisture content of 15% (wet basis).

There can be several reasons for the spoilage of the fruit - the most likely one being that the drying process is taking too long, resulting in chemical reactions taking place within the cut fruit.  It is important to ensure that good quality fruit is used that is not over-ripe.  Also, the fruit pieces should be thinly sliced to speed up the drying process.

Packaging
All that is required is packaging in simple plastic bags with attractive labels.  The plastic has to be thick enough to prevent it being damaged by the dried apricots.  The use of a polythene sealing machine will produce a more attractive finished product. 

Résultats/Eléments chiffrés
The following equipment is required:
Drying surface or dryer
Muslin cloth or mosquito net
Sulphur cabinet or tent
Polythene or polypropylene packaging

Enseignements
If the climate is not hot and dry, an artificial drier could be used.  However, the cost of the drier and the fuel need to be carefully calculated before embarking on this option. The quality of the product will be higher. 

The processing of apricots can improve the returns obtainable from the sale of crops, especially when the quality of the product is monitored and kept to a high standard.

Auteur : Sue Azam Ali
Saisie le : 19/03/2002 

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