MICROBIAL STABILITY AND REMANUF ACTURING CHARACTERISTICS OF HIGH SOLIDS TOMATO CONCENTRATES

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Abstract
High solids concentrates prepared from VF145-7879 tomatoes showed microbiological stability without heat preservation at Aw= 0.879 through 480 days of incubation at 30°C. The concentrates with Aw= 0.882, however, spoiled within 360 days of incubation. The Aw values corresponded to 55.13% and 52.86% total solids, respectively. The high concentrates prepared from other varieties which were unusually soiled and had excessive microbial contamination spoiled within 5 days at Aw levels as low as 0.853 (50.74% total solids), but remained microbiologically stable at Aw= 0.819 (63.64% total solids) through 480 days. The effects of pH and the temperature of extraction are discussed. The consistency of the reconstituted high concentrates indicated a trend, i.e. with higher concentration, the concentrate remanufactured into catsup had slightly poorer consistency.