Tomato processing line can produce from fresh tomato to different kinds of final product. The whole line can process concentrated fruit and vegetable products such as tomato paste, strawberry jam, blackberry jam, blueberry jam, raspberry jam, apple jam, mango jam, apricot jam, carrot jam, onion jam and chili jam.
The most popular is tomato paste processing line, produce from fresh tomato to tomato paste with aseptic bag in drum. That mainly includes: fresh tomato receiving system, washing system, sorting system, extracting system, concentrating system, sterilizing system, and aseptic filling system.
Then can get the tomato paste with aseptic bag in drum. And the tomato paste in aseptic bag in drum can be further produced to tomato ketchup, sauces, juice and filled in sachet, stand-up pouch, metal can, PP container, bottle, gable top, etc.
Production capacity:100-30000kg per hour input capacity of raw materials (fresh tomatoes, peppers, apples, strawberries,
blackberries, carrots, onions, etc.),
Production line machine composition:
fruit collecting and feeding;
tomato washing machine;
tomato sorting machine;
cold break tomato pulping machine;
tomato puree storage tank;
tubular tomato pre-heating machine ;
tomato refining machine;
tomato paste/sauce/ketchup evaporator;
tomato paste/ sauce/ketchup storage tank;
tomato paste/ sauce/ketchup sterilizer;
tomato paste/ sauce/ketchup aseptic filling machine.
Fresh Tomato pre-treatment
The system is including the cleaning and sorting of fresh tomatoes,crushing them into 3-5mm tomato pieces,and then preheating them through a tubular preheater.The selection and cleaning process is of great significance to the quality and stability of the final tomato juice.The preheating and crushing processes are important processes that affect the consistency of tomato juice and the yield of juice.There are two crushing methods:hot break and cold break.Due to the low temperature of the cold-breaking sauce,the endogenous enzymes(mainly pectin tertiary enzymes)are not completely inactivated.The pectin is enzymatically hydrolyzed into short chains,and the viscosity will be low,but the flavor and color are good.The hot break enzyme is inactivated thoroughly,the pectin is less damaged,the viscosity is good,the flavor and color are poor.
Tomato squeezing and juicing
Squeeze the crushed fruit pulp after heating,while removing the peel and seeds,it also adjusts the pulp particles.Generally,it can be operated by a screw juicer or a beater.The screw juicer squeezes the crushed pulp between the screw and the sieve to extract the juice,and the beater extracts the juice by impact,and the aperture of the sieve is about 0.4mm. The squeezing rate of good varieties of tomato juice is 75%-80%
Tomato juice blending and seasoning
As a seasoning for tomato juice,we can add wine vinegar,table salt,white sugar,lemon juice,etc.
Degassing,homogenization and sterilization of tomato juice In the process of tomato crushing and blending,the air is inevitably mixed in,so after the juice is squeezed and blended,the tomato juice needs to be deaerated. At the same time,in order to refine the pulp particles and increase the consistency,a homogenizer can be used to make the tomatoes have a smooth feel through homogenization.Tomato juice contains pulp,which makes it a relatively viscous liquid.Therefore,it needs to be sterilized before filling.The HTST sterilization process is usually used(90-95℃ for 40-60S). The sterilized tomato juice is orange-red,the sugar content is 4.3%,and the PH value is 4.4.
Filling and sealing of tomato juice
The containers used for tomato juice are metal cans,glass bottles or PET bottles.The pre-sterilized tomato juice is filled into a clean container.In order to prevent oxidation,it is necessary to quickly cool the sterilized tomato juice to 85-89℃ and fill it into the container immediately.To prevent oxidation of the product,this filling method is called hot filling.It should be sealed immediately after filling.
Secondary pasteurization and packing of the tomato juice
After the filling is completed,for the sake of safety,the tomato juice needs to be sterilized twice,and the filled container is
transported to the pasteurization tunnel or retort for secondary sterilization.The sterilization process is 90-95℃ for
15-20min.Then use cooling water to quickly cool the temperature of tomato juice to below 35℃ for subsequent packaging.
