Briefly, the industrial and technological advantages offered by “Cerere 6000” can be summarized in:
After the automatic peeling, bananas are extruded and transformed into raw pulp. This process is protected by nitrogen injection that prevents oxidation. Such process is monitored by a pH meter to understand the quantity of acid to be used.
The purée pre-warming takes place in a heat exchanger by a hot water circuit. The amount of steam used to warm up the water is controlled by a temperature probe that checks the product output temperature; the user sets this temperature and PID control parameters by the PLC system.
After the pre-heating the seeds and are separated in the refining machines especially designed for this product – then all the remaining impurities are removed to obtain a clear puree without defects.
After the refining, the aroma recovery system can be installed to capture and concentrate the volatile flavours which would otherwise be lost during the concentration process.
The technology developed by Tropical Food Machinery especially for the banana puree utilizes a four-concentric-tube sterilizer that uses overheated water as heating fluid. After the initial heating stage, the cooling section has a first stage with industrial water and a second stage with chilled water that quickly cools the aseptic puree and maintains the desired yellow color. The process is protected by steam barriers.
Thermal treatments are set according to the pH and water content of the product. Sterilization of the puree is controlled by a linked double PID controller– the PLC relies on two probes -one on the holding tube and one on the heated water tank- giving the operator simple but effective supervision of the whole process. The specific banana processing control developed by Tropical Food Machinery during over 8 years of work, is able to stabilize the machine and quickly intervene in case of flow changing.
Last but not least, the aseptic filler has been specifically designed for filling banana puree in aseptic bags: it is complete with an hydrogen peroxide system to keep the filling chamber perfectly aseptic at a lower temperature instead of using the traditional steam system. This system has been tested and approved by FDA auditors.