How to eat figs

Figs are the fruit of the mulberry plant fig. Because the leaves of the fig are thick and green, but the flowers are very small and often covered by branches and leaves, it is not easy to be found by people. When the fruit is exposed, the flowers have fallen off, so people think it is fruit without flowers, so it is named fig. Figs are soft and rotten when ripe, and taste sweet like persimmons without seeds. They are rich and comprehensive in nutrition. In addition to containing a variety of amino acids, vitamins, and minerals necessary for the human body, they also contain citric acid, fumaric acid, succinic acid, quinic acid, lipase, protease and other ingredients, and have good therapeutic effects.

Fig Nutrition Analysis:

1. Figs contain malic acid, citric acid, lipase, protease, hydrolase, etc., which can help the body digest food and promote appetite. Figs also contain a variety of lipids, so they have the effect of moisturizing the intestines and facilitating bowel movements.

2. The lipase and hydrolase contained in figs have the function of lowering blood lipids and decomposing blood lipids, which can reduce the deposition of fat in blood vessels, thereby playing a role in lowering blood pressure and preventing coronary heart disease;

3. Figs have anti-inflammatory and anti-swelling properties, and can help relieve sore throats and swelling;

4. The serum of unripe fruits contains active ingredients such as psoralen and bergapten. The juice of ripe fruits can be extracted from an aromatic substance called benzaldehyde. Both of them have the effects of preventing and fighting cancer and enhancing the body's disease resistance. They can prevent the occurrence of various cancers, delay the development of transplanted adenocarcinoma and lymphosarcoma, promote their degeneration, and will not be toxic to normal cells.

Benefits of figs:

Figs are sweet, neutral and non-toxic;

It has the effects of strengthening the spleen, nourishing and moistening the intestines;

It is mainly used to treat indigestion, loss of appetite, yin deficiency cough, dry cough without sputum, sore throat, etc.

Figs are suitable for:

It is edible for the general public

1. It is suitable for people with indigestion, loss of appetite, hyperlipidemia, hypertension, coronary heart disease, arteriosclerosis, cancer, and constipation.

2. It is not suitable for patients with fatty liver, cerebrovascular accident, diarrhea, normokalemic periodic paralysis, etc.; people with loose stools should not eat it raw.

How to eat figs

Figs can be eaten directly or processed into the following foods:

1 Dried fruit

Dried figs are the primary form of the entire processing and utilization process. They are easy to store and can also be used as a raw material supply for other processed products.

1) Drying by spreading in the sun In fig producing areas with dry summer climate, this method is often used to dry ripe fruits. The specific method is: on a sunny day, after harvesting ripe fruits, spread them one by one according to variety and grade in flat baskets, sieves or other breathable containers, and place them in the sun to dry naturally or in a ventilated place to dry in the shade; during the drying process, turn them frequently, flatten them, and shape them; when the water is lost and the sugar powder of the fruit increases to about 50%, they can be packed and stored.

2) Slice and dry the figs. For the green figs that cannot mature in the later stage of growth, slice and dry them. The methods are: first, slice the figs manually, with a thickness of about 0.3 cm, and spread them on reed mats, bamboo slats or clean cement ground. After drying, put them in plastic bags for storage. Second, slice the figs with a slicer, dry them with a dryer, or dry them naturally in the sun. Dried fruit slices can be used as raw materials for making candied fruit and beverages.

(3) Dehydration For some varieties with low sugar content and high water content, they can be harvested when the fruit is 80% to 90% mature and dehydrated. The process flow is: fresh fruit → washing → steam peeling (scalding) → vacuum drying (dehydration) → packaging → storage. Dehydrated dried fruit can be used as edible products, and can also be used as raw materials for making cakes and soups.

(4) Drying and drying This method is often used to dry ripe figs in hot and humid production areas in summer. The method is to pick 80% to 90% of the figs and then dry them according to the following process: washing the figs → steam peeling (scalding) → putting them on a plate → drying → shaping → packaging → storage → product. Dried figs can be used as raw materials for preserved fruits, beverages, and cakes, or they can be used directly.

2 Jam

Generally, 80% to 90% of figs can be used as raw materials. If you want to process export-standard jam, you must choose high-quality fruits of the same variety and high maturity; if you want to use it for family use, clean and defective fruits can also be used. The main processing technology points are as follows:

(1) The weight ratio of fruit to sucrose is 1:0.5-0.6, add about 0.4% citric acid, and add a small amount of water during pre-cooking.

(2) Process flow: Raw fruit → selection → washing → cleaning → crushing → pulping → pre-cooking → adding sugar and concentrating (3 times) → canning → sealing → sterilization → cooling → labeling.

(3) Technical requirements: The steaming vessel should preferably be a stainless steel double-layer pot; the steaming temperature should be between 100 and 120°C; stirring should be continued during the steaming process; the canning temperature should be around 70°C; and the sterilization temperature should be around 100°C.

(4) Quality indicators: The solid content of the jam is about 70%; the product is amber or yellowish brown, translucent; the jam liquid contains a small amount of white broken seed coat.

3 Preserved Fruit

The raw materials are generally 80% to 100% mature, with uniform fruit size (about 40-50g), and yellow or yellow-green skin. If the fruit is too large, it must be broken open; the fruit surface must be free of disease spots and scars. The main technical points are as follows:

(1) The weight ratio of fruit and sucrose is 1: 0.2-0.3, add 0.3%-0.5% citric acid and appropriate amount of water.

(2) Process flow: Raw fruit sorting → washing → cleaning → peeling → (or not peeling) → blanching → sulfur treatment → sugar boiling and sugar soaking → drying → shaping → grading → packaging.

(3) Technical requirements: For processing high-end preserved fruits, the raw fruit should be peeled; the peeling technology generally uses the alkaline solution method, but vacuum sugar soaking is more effective and saves time. The best baking temperature for preserved fruits is 60℃.

4. Drinks

Beverages are a major form of fig processing and utilization. They can use either ripe fresh figs or dried figs as raw materials; beverage products can be in the form of liquid or solid beverages.

First, the method of making the liquid beverage is:

(1) The weight ratio of fresh fruit (slices) to extraction water is 1:1, and the weight ratio of dried fruit (slices) to extraction water is 1:5.

(2) Liquid preparation process: Mix the raw materials and water in a stainless steel container (such as a double-layer pot), heat to about 90°C, stop heating after about 30 minutes, let it stand for 12 to 24 hours, squeeze the pomace and juice to make coarse filtered juice. After fine filtering and clarification, freeze it for later use.

(3) Clarification technology: The first is the gelatin tannin clarification method, that is, prepare 1% gelatin and tannin solution, add it to the original juice, and stir it continuously; the original juice is left to stand at room temperature of 8-12℃ for 6-12 hours to achieve the purpose of clarification. The weight ratio of gelatin, tannin and juice is 1: 4000-5000. The second is the enzyme clarification method, that is, when the fig juice is heated to 82℃, it is sterilized, and when the juice is cooled to 50-55℃, pectinase preparation is added at a dosage of 0.2%-0.4%, and stirred evenly. Let it stand for gradual clarification.

(4) Concentration technology: The squeezed fresh juice and the extracted dried juice are concentrated to 1 to 6 times of the original juice, and then blended and bottled for use. The commonly used concentration method is to prepare the concentrated juice in a ratio of 4:1 between the original juice (28% soluble solids) and the sugar solution (75% sugar content), add an appropriate amount of citric acid, mix well, and heat to above 75°C.

(5) Beverage preparation: The beverage is prepared with fig juice, white sugar, water and citric acid as raw materials, with the original juice content of 10% to 40%, the total sugar content of about 15%, and the total acid content of less than 0.5%. The product is prepared through mixing, heating, filling and sealing. If concentrated juice is used, the juice beverage is also prepared according to the juice content of 55% to 20%.

Second, solid beverage processing method:

(1) Fruit powder processing uses fig concentrated juice as raw material and adopts high-pressure spray drying equipment for spray drying to produce raw powder.

(2) The solid beverage is made from fig concentrated juice, sucrose powder, dextrin powder and citric acid. A proper amount of water is added and mixed in a blender until the mixture is evenly mixed into a semi-loose state. The mixture is then formed and dried in a granulator and packaged to become the finished product.

5. Fruit wine

(1) Use high-quality wine as the base for soaking. Wash 70% to 80% ripe figs and soak them in the wine. After a certain period of time, take out the soaking wine, age it, and blend it to make the soaking wine. The alcohol content can be adjusted to 32% to 46%.

(2) There are two methods for fermenting wine: First, pure fig fermentation wine. Select fully mature and high-sugar fruits, crush and squeeze them into juice, then sterilize and inoculate yeast for fermentation. After about 15 to 20 days, when the sweetness drops below 1%, the wine can be separated and repeated twice; after removing the sediment, adjust the alcohol content to 10% to 20%, and after aging, blend it. Second, mixed fermentation of figs and honey. Select fully mature and high-sugar fruits, crush and squeeze them to extract juice, and adjust the sugar content of the juice and honey to 220 Bx. After sterilization, inoculate fermentation and clarify and filter, the honey wine with an alcohol content of 11% and a sugar content of 4.2g/100ml is obtained. It is amber transparent in color, rich in honey aroma, elegant in fruit aroma, mellow and refreshing.