Health foods from fruits

A number of health foods can be formulated out of fruits and vegetables.

Attesting to this is a study done by researchers of the Sultan Kudarat Polytechnic State College (SKPSC) in Isulan, Sultan Kudarat.

The study, titled "Development and commercialization of processed food products from fruits and vegetables," was conducted by E.S. Dampil, C.R. Peralta, and M.P. Guanzon.

Monitored by the Los Baños-based DOST-Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCARRD), the research was in line with the government’s efforts to come up with innovative value-added food products that cater to the local and international markets.

"Today," noted SKPSC, "there is a big demand gap to fill in terms of fresh or processed tropical fruits and vegetables due to the shift in consumer preference for health foods. To bridge the gap, there is a need to develop unique processed food products that appeal to the health-conscious consumer and at the same time offer tremendous marketing prospects."

In the SKPSC-Regional Communal Food Processing Center study, six major product lines using fruits and vegetables were developed. These were dried fruits (pineapple, papaya, mango, and camias prune), vegetable-mixed pickles, canton noodles (yam or ubi and taro or gabi), carrot-calamansi juice, calamansi nip (drink concentrate), and Cavendish banana products (chips, catsup, and sauce).

"There is a need to intensify technology transfer and commercialization activities to create greater public interest in the processed products," the SKPSC researchers stressed.

They concluded: "Linkages with small-and medium-scale enterprises should be explored to fast-tack commercialization. If market prospects would be promising, the technology will open up export and niche market for processed Philippine fruits and vegetables as snack and health foods." — Rudy A. Fernandez