Category Archives: Uncategorized

Herbs, Spices and Essential Oils Manual – Free Online Information

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This is a really impressive manual published by UNIDO.

Cover of the Herbs, Spices and Essential Oils Manual

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The manual covers the following subjects with the focus being on the post production processes used including a very informative section on essential oils.

  • Major spice crops in world trade
  • Economic Impact and Trade
  • Products
  • Post-Production
  • Operations Losses
  • Pest control 
  • Economic and Social Considerations

Food Processors are well equiped with knowledge and equipment that could be adapted to the production of herbs, spices or essential oils. They, therefore, have an opportunity to consider changing or expanding their business.

Beer From Elephant Digested Coffee Beans – Peculiar Foods

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I must claim to having heard first hand of an area where a nut is used as a food, after having been eaten and excreted by an animal. In this area there is a strong belief that kernels from a marula nut that has been eaten by a goat are much more tasty than the untreated kernels. But here's a new one.

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There are of course coffees that have passed through digestive tracts but here the coffee is used to brew a dark beer, which has apparently sold out on its launch day, although only.

The flow sheet on the pack label needs to be studied!

 

A New Gentle Drying Technology

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The combination of vacuum and microwave makes for faster and gentler heat treatment, offering a product of much higher quality than conventional tunnel and spray drying, that is cheaper and faster than freeze drying.

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The technology, which is offered by a Canadian company the Enwave Corporation, was developed at University of British Columbia in 1998. The principal issue appears to be the development of equipment to handle the irriadiation of products under vaccum in continuous large scale operations.

An article published in the South African Food Science and Technology presents some information that supports the technology's claims that were outlined in the first paragraph.

 

Information To Support Calculation.

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Whenever you are busy with calculations this site can help keep the data and information you need at you fingertips.

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The Engineering Toolbox offers free information in a range of areas, from Acoustics to Water Systems.

The information provided is practical and easy to use as the image below shows. This is a good resource to have to hand to support your technical activity.

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Small Scale Fruit Processing Equipment

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One of the problems that often faces the small scale processor Is the percieved lack of suitable equipment for the establishment of a small sized business.

Now Voran Machinery, a German company which offers a wide range of impressive fruit juice equipment seems to be filling this gap.

click the image to visit the website

click the image to visit the website

To me this euipment appears to be very promisising. Voran seems to offer unit operqtions at a range of capacities all with good control. My wory would be cost and what kind of support they are able to offer

I do not know this company and the post is based only on reading the website, I would therefore really like to hear from you if you have any futher knowledge or experience. You can email me using this link.

The Historical Origins of Preservation

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This short 2 or 3 page article is not abut the technology of preservation, but rather about the history of how preservation became so important to civilization.

Web page on the History of the origins of Food Preservation

from: University of Georgia
(click image for full story online)

Although the article does not mention newer technologies such as radiation and pressure processing and does not expand on the science of preservation, knowing the history helps to give a wider view when one considers preservation.

The author ends by saying “Interests have shifted from preserve “because we have to”, to “preserve because we like to.”. This of course applies to the modern richer urban dweller and not poor rural communities.

Its interesting to think that if urban people still had preservation capacity the Local Food movement would be much more successful!

Falling Film Evaporator – Equipment Series

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click image to visit GEA Process Engineering site

 

In falling film evaporators the liquid product (A) usually enters the evaporator at the head (1) of the evaporator. In the head the product is evenly distributed into the heating tubes. A thin film enters the heating tube are it flows downwards at boiling temperature and is partially evaporated. In most cases steam (D) is used for heating the evaporator. The product and the vapor both flow downwards in a parallel flow. This gravity-induced downward movement is increasingly augmented by the co-current vapor flow. The separation of the concentrated product (C) form its vapor (B) is undergoing in the lower part of the heat exchanger (3) and the separator (5).