Fruit and Vegetables for Preserving

Fruit and Vegetables for Preserving

Pickling, preserving and sterilising is a hit in our kitchen. In the food market, we can purchase a wide variety of preserved foods. However, there's nothing better than making your own preserves, from your own produce, in organic quality and "not cheated" of all the good ingredients. This creative work quickly becomes home entertainment and a hobby. Products in the form of jars full of goodies are the ideal result of whole family cooperation.

Definitely find time for this activity. It will pay off. You'll certainly discover some old tried-and-tested recipe from grandma. Children can create their own jar composition. Homemade preserves can also serve as a gift.

Foods without treatment are subject to spoilage over time. Spoiled foods are inedible. Microbes, yeasts, moulds, enzymes and chemical processes in foods cannot be stopped. Microorganisms are ubiquitous in the common environment (water, air, soil, etc.), and under optimal conditions they multiply very quickly. Bacteria reproduce every 15-20 minutes. There are many ways to eliminate their growth. However, there are species, such as moulds, that multiply even at temperatures of -8°C. Salt in a concentration of 1-3% inhibits the multiplication of many bacteria and yeasts. At a concentration of 20-25%, it almost completely limits their growth. Salted foods must be stored at low temperatures. Sugar has similar effects to salt.

Food Preservation Methods

• heat sterilization - this involves direct destruction of microbes. Foods treated this way must be completely airtight sealed. Most commonly used for preserving fruit and vegetable compotes, mushrooms in brine, and semi-finished products. Heat sterilization is usually supplemented with brine containing vinegar.
• drying - most commonly we dry fruits, vegetables, mushrooms and aromatic plants, herbs. Drying does not prevent browning of foods. Vitamin C is lost during drying.
• sugaring - sugar has excellent preservation effects, thanks to its desiccating effects on microorganisms.
• salting - salt in 20% concentration prevents the development of common microorganisms. We preserve vegetables and mushrooms by salting, which we then use as semi-finished products. Such salted foods are usually frozen. Salted meat is further preserved by smoking.
• fat preservation - consists of placing foods in fat and their subsequent sterilization.
• thickening - by evaporating water during boiling, liquid products can be concentrated sufficiently so that the remaining water is insufficient for microorganism vegetation. When thickening vegetable purées, additional sterilization is necessary.
• low temperature preservation - by lowering temperature we also slow down the life processes of microorganisms. During deep freezing, ice separates from foods and the food thus becomes dry for microorganisms. Sufficiently frozen food is an environment where microorganism activity does not manifest.
• biological preservation - e.g. alcoholic fermentation - yeasts create ethyl alcohol (wine) and lactic acid fermentation, where bacteria produce lactic acid from sugar (fermented vegetables). During fruit vinegar production, acetic acid is created from ethyl alcohol.

Vitamins in Preserved Foods

Vitamin B1 - is contained in both plant foods and meat. It is damaged by heating in non-acidic environment. Vitamin B2 - is contained primarily in meat. It is less sensitive to preservation than B1. It is damaged by light.

Vitamin C - is the most important vitamin contained in fruits and vegetables. For the recommended daily dose of vitamin C, consume peppers, strawberries, currants, cauliflower, cabbage, blackcurrants and rosehips. Vitamin C deficiency manifests in autumn and spring with fatigue and low resistance to diseases. The highest vitamin C content is in fresh fruits and vegetables. Their vitamin C content decreases during storage. Of preservation methods, freezing is the most gentle. Conversely, fruits and vegetables lose the most vitamin C through fermentation and slow drying.

To preserve the maximum amount of vitamin C, follow these procedures:

• process fruit and vegetables immediately after harvest
• protect harvested fruit and vegetables from sunlight
• if fruit and vegetables need to be pre-cooked, cook briefly. Do not soak them in water for long periods.
• heat at high temperature for a short time
• use stainless steel, plastic, glass and wooden utensils. Do not use iron or copper utensils.

Vegetables Suitable for Preserving

• Broccoli - suitable for freezing. Freeze larger and more compact florets.
• Celeriac - can be stored fresh or sterilised in sweet and sour brine.
• Onions - we store them fresh. Smaller onions can be sterilised in sweet and sour brine. Onions can be added to various lecho, chutney, and relish mixtures.
• Beetroot - sterilise in sweet and sour brine.
• Garlic - store fresh. Or simply grind with salt as garlic paste.
• Pumpkin - sterilise as sweet compote. It can be cooked down and blended, then sterilised as a base for pumpkin soup.
• Beans - freeze tender green pods. They can also be sterilised in sweet and sour brine.
• Peas - freeze young peas. They can be sterilised in various mixtures. Can also be preserved dried. Pre-cook peas before drying.
• Asparagus - preserve in salty or sweet and sour brine.
• Cabbage - store fresh
• Dill - dry or freeze. Sterilise in mildly acidic brine. For preservation, harvest at maximum 20 cm height, before flowering.
• Horseradish - store fresh
• Cauliflower - sterilise in sweet and sour brine. Can be pickled in vinegar and frozen.
• Carrots - suitable for freezing, sterilising, and drying. Carrots can be made into juices and purées.

• Peppers - preserve in sweet and sour brine. Peppers should be well ripened, red, yellow, or distinctly light green. Dark green fruits are not suitable for sterilisation as they tend to become bitter. Peppers can also be made into purées and ketchups. Suitable as additions to vegetable mixtures.
• Parsley - add to vegetable mixtures. Can be stored fresh. Parsley leaves can be frozen.
• Tomatoes - choose fruits with delicate but nicely red skin. The surface should be firm. Fruits ripened by the sun. Suitable for making ketchups, "Italian" style sauces, vegetable juices, and for sterilisation in sweet and sour brine. Tomatoes are excellent dried, lightly salted. This is a labour-intensive option. Dried tomatoes can be eaten as crisps (healthy crisps) or further preserved in olive oil, or made into pesto.
• Brussels sprouts - excellent after freezing, so you can "preserve" them in the garden bed. Even after freezing, they retain a large amount of nutrients and vitamins. If you haven't tried growing them yet, they're definitely worth it.
• Spinach - freezing individually picked leaves is the ideal processing method.
• Cabbage - is one of the most important sources of vitamin C in winter. Red cabbage particularly contains a lot. Sterilisation reduces its content by about half. We pickle cabbage, allowing it to ferment through lactic fermentation. It can be placed inside peppers for sterilisation in vinegar brine, or prepared with horseradish and chilli pepper as a spicy salad with dressing, where you add more sugar than vinegar to balance the flavours, and leave it weighted down in the fridge.

There are countless recipes available. You can find them on the internet, in cookbooks, or dig into old tried-and-tested family recipes from grandma. It's never too late to learn how to process vegetables into delicious preserves.

We hope we've inspired you enough and that you'll further process your harvested crops.

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Author: Hana Michalíková