Coconut is one of the fastest-growing food products on the market, with sales increasing every year and expected to continue its steady growth. Perhaps the secret to the success of the coconut category is that it can be consumed in a variety of ways, such as food, sugar, baking ingredients, coconut oil, beauty products, and more.
"The coconut is a very versatile fruit because it combines three elements: the fruit, the nut, and the seed, but it is a troublesome fruit for suppliers because it is difficult to maintain the natural appearance of coconuts without proper individual quick freezing processing. Providing a high-quality product requires considering two main factors: the correct pretreatment and the correct freezing technique. said Carmen Popescu of OctoFrost Group.
correct preprocessing
Oxidation is one of the main problems faced when freezing young coconuts. Unsightly brown spots can affect coconuts' quality and natural appearance, but this can be avoided with proper pretreatment.
“When processing coconut meat, the usual pretreatment is washing and dicing. However, the most important part of the pretreatment is the blanching process,” says Carmen.
Correct freezing technique
Carmen shared that a very important factor that can significantly improve the freezing effect and the quality of individually quick-frozen coconuts is the fan speed adjustment. The OctoFrost team recommends a fan speed of around 20% to prevent product loss.
“Not all single quick freezing technology have adjustable fan speed, but OctoFrost™ single blast freezing tunnel freezers have multiple adjustable freezing zones, each of which can be set to a specific fan speed to create optimal airflow and prevent coconut shred from sticking. In addition, the asymmetrical movement of the base plate plays an important role in maintaining good separation of the products. These features allow coconut meat to retain its optimal texture and color even after long thawing. ' Carmen continued.
“The rapid growth of the single frozen coconut market is very exciting, and to reach new consumers and meet their evolving demand for fresh and natural single frozen coconut, investing in the right equipment and sustainable technologies is critical.”