|
|
|
You can get e-magazine links on WhatsApp. Click here
|
|
|
|
|
|
Transforming raw ingredients into safe & nutritious products
|
|
Sunday, 16 February, 2025, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
|
|
Priyanka Kale
|
The Indian food processing industry is a sunrise sector that has gained prominence in recent years. The Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) under the Government of India is primarily engaged in the development and execution of policies pertaining to the food processing sector, aligning them with the broader national priorities and objectives.
The food processing equipment industry showcases intricate and heterogeneous characteristics owing to its substantial engagement in the global food sector. It encompasses a diverse assortment of food products, including processed variants, that have witnessed significant expansion over the years. This proliferation of new food products poses a challenge in formulating a comprehensive delineation for the food processing equipment sector. Nevertheless, gaining a profound understanding, systematically categorising, and effectively promoting the global food processing equipment sector is of paramount importance given its pivotal role in the contemporary landscape where food processing assumes critical significance.
Developed countries play a significant role in the food processing equipment industry, serving both domestic and international markets. Countries such as Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Denmark, the US, Japan, and Australia are major equipment manufacturers and exporters. Their dominance in the industry is a result of their technological advancements. However, with the exception of China, developing nations have made a relatively minor impact on the global trade in this sector, primarily attributed to limited technology access and their reliance on developed countries for technological advancements. For instance, India’s food processing industry heavily relies on equipment manufactured in these developed nations.
The Indian food processing industry is a high priority sector and is poised for excellent growth in the coming years. The Government of India has adopted a major policy decision for commercialising agriculture and developing the food processing, preservation and packaging sectors. India is among the leading producers of sugar, tea, milk, fruits and vegetables. The food processing sector is rapidly being transformed into a high-volume industry. A distinct shift is seen among consumers for packaged food items.
This food processing machinery employed for food products starting from bakery to beverages, dairy products, requires a lot of effort from the food processing machinery and thus food processing machine manufacturers in India. Food processing machines in India are available for the effective and efficient execution of multiple and different unit operations necessary during a complete production cycle, such as washing, separating, mixing, baking, freezing, and sealing. Depending on the requirements and the demands of the operation (and the overarching food processing application), the food processing machinery can be designed and constructed as per customisation to handle solid, semi-solid, or liquid food products by batch or continuously. A few other design and construction-related customisation include the food-grade material used for construction, hygienic, and governmental standards, sizing, cost, and integration of automation or analytical components. Every characteristic of this can influence the performance and efficiency-effectiveness of the food processing equipment, but choosing the optimal design and construction is dependent on the specifications and requirements of the particular food processing application. Additionally, we will outline some of the things taken as consideration for designing and choosing equipment for a food processing application.
The food processing machines in India and the food processing machine manufacturing can be broken into multiple cycles, several stages, characterised and categorised by a specific function and during which individual unit operations are performed. During the preparation stage or initial stage, the primary function and main function are to prepare the food material for further processing, and some of the unit operations performed include washing and separating from the ingredient not needed. Few other secondary functions which provide a pillar of support to the primary functions of the production and processing cycle include material handling, system control procedures, and operations which convey food materials between process stations or maintain the required processing conditions and standards, respectively. A few common functions by which food processing machinery are arranged in groups are: Preparation, Mechanical Processing, Heat Processing, Preservation and Packaging.
Food processing machinery in India is used to transform raw ingredients into safe and nutritious food products. The food processing industry in India is growing, and there are many companies that manufacture food processing equipment.
Food processing is manipulating raw ingredients by physical or chemical means into food or of the food itself for consumption.
Food processing combines raw food ingredients to produce marketable food products that the consumer can easily prepare and serve. Modern technology has substantially altered traditional food production methods from hunting and gathering to mass production.
Food processing takes clean, harvested, or slaughtered and butchered components and uses them to produce marketable food products. The main kinds of processing are thermal processing, milling, fermentation, pasteurisation, evaporation, drying, concentration and blending.
Raw ingredients can be considered a food product in many ways before being cooked into a culinary dish. On the other hand, a processed food product considered in a final form may not be regarded as a raw material. A cooked dish that contains flour would be considered as cooking rather than milling.
Flour is one of the most significant ingredients in foods today, with several hundred different uses in many products. In its simplest form, flour is ground cereal grains. Flour milling and other ingredients to create a final food product give it very different properties and uses than raw grain.
Food processing includes all methods for processing and preparing drinks and food materials that contain a nutritional value for human consumption. This includes “primary” preparation, secondary processes (such as cooking), and tertiary preparation (table presentation).
The optimal design and construction of the food processing equipment depends on the specifications and requirements of the particular food processing application. Different types of food processing equipment which are categorised depending on the common functions used in the food processing industry.
Cleaning
Cleaning, grading, sorting, peeling or skinning are some of the unit operations employed by manufacturers during the preparation of raw material. The cleaning process divided into wet and dry is done to remove contaminants and foreign matter from the surface of raw food material. The food processing equipment employed during this process are - Sterilisers (Sterilising), Ultrasonic Cleaners, Soak/Floatation Tanks (Soaking), Washing Systems (Washing), Spray Washers (Spray Washing).
Grading
This type of food processing is closely related to sorting and often precluding. We can determine the overall quality by assessing several food matter characteristics. The food processing equipment employed during this process are - Image Processors, Tungsten Lights, Laboratory Equipment.
Size Reduction
The first unit operation done in the mechanical processing to reduce the average particle size of solid food matter through mechanical processes involving shear, impact or compression force. The type of equipment involved are - Roll Crushers, Jaw Crushers, Pressure Mills, Impact Mills, Strainers/Pulpers, Attrition Mills.
Homogenisation/Emulsification
The average particle size is reduced and consistency of semi-solid and liquid food matter is increased. Types of food processing equipment are - High Shear Mixers, Emulsifiers, Colloid Mills, Homogenisers.
Mixing/Blending
To achieve and maintain a uniform mixture, mixing combines and disperses two or more components into one another. The type of equipment depends on the food components form - Anchor Mixers, Agitated Tanks, Paddle Mixers and Turbine Mixers.
(The author is research scholar, College of Food Technology, VNMKV, Parbhani)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|