Our country has always had “South honey North preserved” said that the South to wet products preserved fruit is mainly in the North to dry products preserved fruit is more.

Candied fruit contains fruit acids, minerals, vitamin C, a variety of amino acids and dietary fiber, and contains a large amount of glucose and fructose, easy to be absorbed by the human body, especially some of the candied fruit with the same source of raw materials of food and medicine, the consumer’s health has certain benefits.

Is candied fruit a dried fruit product?

No!

Dried fruit products refers to fruit as raw materials by drying, drying and other dehydration process made of dried fruit food.

Candied fruits and vegetables as the main raw materials, add (or not add) food additives and other auxiliary materials, by sugar or honey or salt pickling (or not pickled) and other processes made of products.

How many types of preserves are there?

According to GB 14884-2016 “National Standard for Food Safety Candied Fruits”, candied fruit products include candied fruits, cooled fruits, preserved fruits, talking fruits, fruit cakes and fruits, collectively known as candied fruits and cooled fruits.

Application of food additives in candied fruit

1. Preservatives
The most commonly used preservatives in candied fruit are benzoic acid and sorbic acid, and the use of preservatives in candied fruit in GB 2760-2014 is shown in Table 1.
Table 1 Provisions on the use of preservatives in candied fruit in GB 2760-2014

No.
Additives
Maximum use g/kg
Name of food

1
Benzoic acid and its sodium salt
0.5
Candied fruits

2
Sorbic acid and its potassium salt
0.5
Candied fruit

3
Sulfur
0.35
Candied fruit

4
Sulfur dioxide,potassium metabisulfite,sodium metabisulfite,sodium sulfite,sodium bisulfite,sodium hyposulfite
0.35
Candied fruit

5
Disodium EDTA
0.25
Dried fruits (only groundnut dried fruits)

2.Sweetener
Adding more than 55% of white granulated sugar to candied fruits can inhibit the growth of bacteria, so that candied fruits can be preserved for a longer period of time. The use of sugar also has some disadvantages, such as sugar flow, etc. In order to overcome these shortcomings can be added to other sweeteners, such as sodium saccharin, sweetener. The sweetness of sodium saccharin is 500 times that of sucrose, and the sweetness of sweetener is 30-40 times that of sucrose.

These sweeteners do not affect the color of the product, the processing is convenient, can produce sweetness or can intensify the sweetness sensation, and are called non-nutritive sweeteners or synthetic sweeteners.The regulations on the use of sweeteners in preserved fruits and cold fruits in GB 2760-2014 are shown in Table 2.
Table 2 The use of sweeteners in candied fruits in GB 2760-2014

No.
Additives
Maximum use amount g/kg
Name of food

1
N-[N-(3,3 -dimethylbutyl)]-L-α-aspartyl-L-phenylalanine 1 -methyl ester (also known as Nutella)
0.065
Candied fruit

2
Ammonium glycyrrhizinate, monopotassium glycyrrhizinate and tripotassium glycyrrhizinate
Appropriate amount according to production needs
Candied fruit

3
Sodium cyclohexylsulfamate (also called sweetener), calcium cyclohexylsulfamate
1.0
Candied fruit

8.0
Cold fruits, sweeteners, fruitcakes

4
Sucralose (also known as sucralose)
1.5
Candied fruit

5
Methyl aspartyl phenylalaninate (also known as aspartame)
2
Candied fruit

6
Methyl aspartyl phenylalaninate acetylsulfonate
0.35
Candied fruit

7
Stevioside
3.3
Candied fruit

8
Potassium acetylsulfamate (also known as acesulfame)
0.3
Candied fruit

9
Isomaltose
Used in moderation according to production needs
Candied fruit

10
L-α-aspartyl-N-(2,2,4,4-tetramethyl-3-sulfatotrimethylene)-D-alaninamide (also known as Allysweet)
0.3
Talking Chemicals

11
Sodium saccharin
1
Candied fruits

5
Cold fruits, talking, fruit cakes

3.Colorant
Fruits will produce color change under the action of enzyme and oxygen during processing, so that the color of fruits will be damaged, so generally in the production of candied fruits, appropriate amount of food coloring will be added, such as amaranth red, lemon yellow, sunset yellow, bright blue and so on. If the control of the production process is not strict, the overuse of these colors may occur when adding them.The use of colorants in candied fruits in GB 2760-2014 is shown in Table 3.

Table 3 The use of coloring agents in GB 2760-2014 for candied fruit

No.
Additives
Maximum use g/kg
Name of food

1
Indigo and its aluminum color precipitate
0.1
Candied fruit Cold fruit

2
Saffron yellow
0.2
Candied Fruit

3
β-carotene
1
Candied gazpacho

4
Radish red
Use in appropriate amount according to production needs
Candied fruit

5
Lemon yellow and its aluminum precipitate
0.1
Candied fruit

6
Sunset yellow and its aluminum precipitate
0.1
Candied fruit

7
Natural amaranth red
0.25
Candied fruit

8
Amaranthine red and its aluminum precipitate
0.05
Candied fruit

9
Carmine and its aluminum precipitate
0.05
Candied fruit

10
Gardenia yellow
0.3
Candied fruit

11
Erythrosine and its aluminum precipitate
0.05
Cold fruits

12
Titanium dioxide
10
Fruits and drinks

13
Turmeric
Appropriate amount according to production needs
Fruit

14
Brilliant blue and its aluminum color precipitate
0.025
Fruits

15
New red and its aluminum precipitate
0.05
Fruit

16
Mulberry red
5
Fruit cake

4、Others
Some anti-caking agents, emulsifiers and thickeners are also added to candied fruit in the production process.The regulations on their use in GB 2760-2014 are shown in Table 4.Test method GB/T 21913-2008 “Determination of talc in food”.

Table 4 The use of anti-caking agents and other provisions in GB 2760-2014 for candied fruits and cold fruits

No.
Additive
Type
Maximum use g/kg
Name of food

1
Talc
Anti-caking agent
20
Cold fruits and flavors

2
Magnesium Stearate
Emulsifier, Anti-caking agent
0.8
Candied fruit

3
Monodiglycerides of diacetyl tartaric acid
Emulsifier, Thickener
1
Candied gazpacho