Method for processing freshly harvested leafy vegetables and subdivided, peeled fruit

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to methods for processing freshly harvested vegetables such as lettuce, particularly Iceberg lettuce. The method includes the steps of cutting the core from freshly harvested vegetables such as lettuce and particularly Iceberg and Romaine lettuce, allowing natural juices such as sap or latex to exude from the cored site after cutting, such that substantially all of the natural free-flowing juices at this site exude from the site, then washing the site to remove the exuded matter.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

These methods are also applicable, after harvesting, to subdivided, peeled fruit such as apples, grapefruit, oranges, limes, and lemons and vegetables and other produce such as potatoes in the form of french fries, carrots in the form of slices or sticks, celery in the form of slices or sticks, and members of the chicory family e.g. endive, escarole and radicchio.

In preferred embodiments, the methods are applied to fresh vegetables such as lettuce, particularly head lettuce such as Iceberg lettuce or Romaine lettuce. After coring, the lettuce is positioned to allow its natural juices to flow, by gravity or otherwise, from the coring site, and then washed at and around the coring site to remove exuded natural juices and other entrained matter. Preferably, the positioning period is in the range of about fifteen seconds to about sixty minutes.

Methods for processing fresh produce comprise cutting the produce from its growth site, removing the core of the produce, positioning the cored produce to allow its natural juices to exude from the coring site for a time sufficient (e.g. a time period in a range of about 15 seconds to about 60 minutes) to permit substantially all such free-flowing juices at or near the coring site to exude from the site, and washing the cored produce to remove such exuded natural juices from produce surfaces. These methods may also comprise selecting, as the fresh produce, lettuce such as Iceberg lettuce or Romaine lettuce.

The methods for processing freshly harvested fruits and vegetables include cutting such fruits and vegetables from their growth sites, peeling, cutting (or peeling and cutting) the fruits and vegetables, positioning the fruits and vegetables to allow their natural juices to exude substantially completely from the cutting sites, and washing the fruits and vegetables to remove the exuded natural juices. Such fruits and vegetables may be, for example, celery, grapefruit, orange, lemon and lime. In some cases, the fruits and vegetables may be subjected to cutting or slicing before the positioning step, particularly where the produce is, for example, potatoes and carrots.

EXAMPLE 1

After field harvesting and coring of Romaine lettuce heads, the coring site on each head was washed immediately and the cored, washed lettuce heads placed in containers for further processing. After placement in these containers, the coring sites continued to exude natural juices such as sap and latex containing, among other things, the enzyme polyphenol oxydase (PPO). Upon exposure to air, these natural juices remained on the Romaine heads, turned brown in color, and could not easily be removed by washing.

By contrast, harvested, cored Romaine lettuce heads positioned to permit natural juices to exude from the coring site for one hundred twenty seconds, i.e. about two minutes, before washing to remove exuded material, had substantially no brown spots at or near the coring site.

EXAMPLE 2

After heads of Romaine lettuce were cut from the soil, the outer leaves were removed and discarded, leaving only the undamaged leaves. The top portions of these leaves were trimmed in the field to remove brown and/or dried leaf tips. In some cases, this trimming removed less than one inch; in other cases, three inches or more. The core stem of each lettuce head was then cut away. After core removal, the lettuce heads were positioned so that sap, latex and other free-flowing natural juices exuded from the coring site for a time up to about two minutes. Thereafter, these lettuce heads were washed to remove all visible sap and other natural juices. The heads were then placed onto a conveyor belt, and moved into a container for transport. These containers included an inner, sanitary plastic liner bag.