How to Process Sea Buckthorn
Sea buckthorn, also called Hippophae rhamnoides, is a medium size shrub that is native to areas of Europe, Asia, Mongolia and Russia. It has a long history of use in traditional medicine and has recently been assessed for bioactive chemicals in its leaves, bark and berries. The berries contain flavonoids and are high in vitamin C and E, essential oils, protein, fatty acids and carotene. The majority of commercial sea buckthorn products, such as juice, are made from its berries. In order to process the berries, they must be harvested, inspected, washed and pressed. The juice is then clarified, sterilized and packaged. Does this Spark an idea?
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Instructions
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Set a catcher up at the base of the sea buckthorn shrub to catch the berries as they fall off. Place the mechanical harvester against the tree so that the vibration shakes the berries off. Transfer the berries into storage bins and either process them immediately or store them in a freezer until they can be processed further.
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Remove the berries from the freezer and allow them to thaw. Sort them by hand and inspect them for defects or contaminants. Pick out any rotten berries or non-berry material, such as leaves and stems. If rotten berries and contaminants are processed with the berries, it will affect the final product's flavor.
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Wash the berries with warm water to clean off dirt and insects. For large batches, wash the berries in an agitating tank. For small batches, wash them under running water. Do not let the berries soak in the water because this will cause a diluted level of soluble solids.
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Extract the juice from the berries. This can be done with different types of mills or presses, such as a fruit mill, a serpentine belt press, a rack and cloth press or a screw press. Use the press or mill to crush the berries and catch the extracted juice in a container. Remove the press cake from the press and set it aside for further processing into oil. From here, the juice and press cake should be processed differently.
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Place the juice on a bench and leave it to separate into three phases. If the desired product is a turbid mixed juice, remove the top oil layer. This can be done by processing the juice in a vertical axis centrifuge, clarifier centrifuge or cream separator. If the desired product is a clarified juice, digest the juice using an enzyme treatment, such as pectin methyl esterase and then centrifuge it.
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Sterilize both types of juice by pasteurization followed by a 203 degrees Fahrenheit hot fill directly into their bottles. Cap the bottles and flip them upside-down for 30 seconds to sterilize the lids. Continue processing the press cake into oil. Use a finisher to separate the seeds from the pulp. Clean, grind and extract the oil from the seeds.
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References
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- Photo Credit sea-buckthorn image by Olga Patrina from Fotolia.com
