TROPICOOL FOODS - IQF Bitter Gourd slices

BITTER GOURD (KARELA)

Product Description	Individually Quick Frozen Bitter Gourd (Karela) Slices
Origin	India
General Description	IQF Bitter Gourd slices are produced from Bitter Gourd fruit which are sorted, washed, cut, blanched and frozen to give a free flowing product and stored at -18° C.
Physical parameters
Product size	Slices of 5 mm±1 mm of diameter 30mm±10mm.
Defects	Limits (Average per 1000gm)-Frozen
Foreign Matter	Nil
F.E.V.M	Nil
E.V.M	Nil
Clumps	< 5%
Over size	5% Size of the slice less than 3 mm thick
Under Size	5% Size of the slice more than 7.5mm thick, or more than 40mm in diameter
Red Hard Seed	1%
Discolored Slices	<3%
Sensory Analysis
Color	Uniform dark green
Appearance	Typical of Bitter Gourd (Karela) with undulations on surface, free flowing slices, free from defects.
Flavor	Natural characteristic flavour.
Texture	Bitter
Microbiological Values
	m	M
Aerobic plate count	500,000/g	1,500,000/g
Total Coliforms	1000/g	10,000/g
E.Coli	10/g	100/g
Yeast and Moulds	1,000/g	5,000/g
Staphylococcus Aureaus	10/g	100/g
Salmonella(25 g)	Absent/25g	Absent/25g

m = the microbiological limit which separates good quality from marginally acceptable quality
M = the microbiological limit which separates marginally acceptable quality from defective quality