Product routes
- purée
- purée concentrate
- nectar base
Incoming material and preparation
Should the small black seeds remain visible, be reduced or be separated, and how will that choice affect the desired appearance?
Will the plant process green- and yellow-fleshed varieties separately, and what skin fragments, firmness range and colour change are acceptable in production trials?
Define incoming state, variety, maturity, accepted defects and supply interruptions in the purchasing brief. A proposed line should be demonstrated with representative commercial lots rather than a single ideal sample.
Identify the supply
Record variety, maturity and firmness of accepted fruit.
A soft ripe lot and a firm stored lot should not be treated as identical pulper feeds.
- Equipment duty: Gentle receiving and inspection conveyor
Wash the outer surface
Clean fruit before the skin-removal stage.
Keep skin debris and cleaning water away from the exposed flesh transfer.
- Equipment duty: Fruit washer and rinse elevator
Remove skin
Prepare edible flesh for pulping.
Evaluate the amount of flesh retained with rejected skin and the residual skin specks in the product.
- Equipment duty: Peeling or skin-separation arrangement
Develop the purée
Reduce prepared flesh to the declared texture.
Decide whether the black seeds remain visible; that choice should be made before selecting the finishing sequence.
- Equipment duty: Pulper and feed-controlled refiner
Set seed and fibre character
Control coarse material without assuming every seed must be removed.
Compare mouthfeel and appearance at the intended use concentration, including any proposed blend.
- Equipment duty: Appropriate finishing screens and sampling station
Connect the thick-product route
Transfer the finished purée to its specified treatment or concentration route.
Actual viscosity and retained particles should define the downstream inlet condition.
- Equipment duty: Covered purée tank and suitable transfer pump
Specify preservation around the actual product
Confirm the measured product composition, particulate load and intended storage chain before the treatment and filling arrangement is selected.
The seed-containing or smooth purée route needs its own validated process. A drawing, a heat-exchanger name or a successful extraction trial does not establish a safe treatment schedule or a finished shelf-life claim.
- Equipment duty: Selected treatment unit, controlled transfer and process instruments
Fill, identify and verify the packed ingredient
Match the approved ingredient to the selected package and handling conditions. Record the production lot and the conditions required by its defined distribution route.
The filling boundary belongs in the project specification: container format, product-contact interface, filling hygiene, storage and the downstream user’s receiving requirements must agree before commercial acceptance.
- Equipment duty: Compatible filler, packaging interface and lot-identification station
Quality checks along the process
Review skin specks, seed retention, colour and consistency across the accepted maturity range. A smooth-looking sample may still contain a particle distribution unsuitable for the intended filler.
Define the sampling location, sample preparation, measurement method and acceptable variation. Retain traceable comparisons through the intended downstream route; a favourable immediate sample is not proof of storage stability.
Equipment modules and selection
| Equipment module | Process role | Selection basis |
|---|---|---|
| Gentle receiving and inspection conveyor | Control the incoming-material presentation before preparation. | Check actual lot condition, peak arrivals and the accepted size range. Provide a sample/reject point that can be operated without obstructing feed to the next machine. |
| Peeling or skin-separation arrangement | Pressing or refining. | A press separates liquid from a prepared feed, while a refiner develops a flesh-containing product. The buyer should define which fraction is sold before selecting the separation train. |
| Pulper and feed-controlled refiner | Create the agreed intermediate condition for downstream equipment. | Agree an acceptance sample, a measurable particle or separation target and a reject-handling method. Select contact parts and access arrangements after trials with representative material. |
| Product buffer and transfer system | Connect preparation, treatment and filling without assuming all sections run at the same rate. | Record viscosity, particle character, temperature envelope and expected stoppages. Confirm drainability, sampling points and how unaccepted or interrupted product is identified and handled. |
| Preservation, packaging and cleaning interfaces | Complete the declared process boundary. | The quoted scope should identify included instruments, services, containers, hygienic connections and validation responsibilities. An item list without these interfaces is not a complete line specification. |
Packaging and storage interfaces
Specify whether the seed-containing or smooth purée is supplied as a chilled, frozen, otherwise treated or aseptically handled ingredient, as applicable to the developed product. Package material, closure, fill conditions and distribution are a connected system. Any claimed ambient stability or shelf life requires product- and package-specific validation; the process introduction does not set treatment temperatures or holding times.
Product and residue streams
Segregate skin, coarse fibre and any seed-rich rejected fraction. Describe each stream in the material balance instead of counting all separated solids as saleable product.
Cleaning circuits and physical access
Inspect peeling contact points, screens and purée transfer fittings for retained flesh and small seeds. Define removable parts and closed-circuit cleaning separately.
Assign cleaning responsibilities to the open preparation zone and the closed product circuit separately. Confirm which parts require removal or inspection and how cleaning effectiveness will be demonstrated with the actual product soil.
Inputs for the engineering brief
- Compare the accepted varieties and maturity extremes using the chosen seed-containing or smoother product specification.
- Provide the intended finished-product specification, representative raw-material samples, daily operating pattern and seasonal peak load.
- Identify available utilities, factory layout, drainage, reject collection and the exact inlet/outlet conditions of equipment supplied by others.
- Agree trial acceptance criteria and define the preservation, filling, cleaning and commissioning responsibilities before finalising the equipment scope.
Compare the preparation and concentration basis
A fresh-tomato paste line connects receiving and break treatment with skin/seed separation and a specified concentration duty. Other fruit and vegetable products can need different preparation and texture controls, and a concentrate is not simply any puree put through an evaporator.
Compare the tomato pulp-finishing and evaporation duties below with the product stream described on this page. The raw-material specification, solids measurement, viscosity and preservation/package interface must define the actual configuration.
Sources and processing scope
The references support these material and processing considerations. The actual equipment, process conditions, preservation method and packaging interface follow the specified raw material and finished product.
Further detail
Questions about this equipment and process
Must kiwi purée be seed-free?
No. Visible small seeds may be part of the desired product character. A seed-free objective is a separate finishing question that should be evaluated for recovery, appearance and mouthfeel.
Can a kiwi purée line be described as a clear-juice line?
Not from the same specification. Developing a clear liquid requires a different separation objective and appropriate trials; the purée route deliberately retains edible flesh.
What should a useful kiwifruit trial establish?
Compare the accepted varieties and maturity extremes using the chosen seed-containing or smoother product specification. Record incoming material, accepted feed, finished ingredient and each reject stream separately. Keep settings, samples and analytical methods with the trial record so the result can be compared with subsequent seasonal lots.