Coconut Processing Line
Industry Overview
There are more than 11 million farmers who plant coconut tress in 93 countries in an area that has the size of 12.196 million hectares of land. Nearly 90% of the global coconut industry is comprised of coconut trees located in the Asia-Pacific region. In 2014, the annual production of coconuts grown was 69.836 billion, with a gross global value for coconut products exceeding $50 Billion USD. Asia-Pacific region is the home to nearly 90% of global area occupied by coconut trees.
Coconut tress are called as the ‘Tree of Life’ and it is very fitting for good reasons. More than 100 products can be created from coconut trees and coconuts are know for their great versatility – ranging from cosmetics to food. In the tropics and subtropic regions, coconuts are a regular part of diets for many people. The milk and oil derived from coconuts are commonly used in cooking or frying, and also act as an ingredient in soaps and cosmetics. Even the hard shell of coconuts can process to turn into charcoal.
Source : https://www.kokoniu.com/the-coconut-industry/
Why Muninmax’s Coconut Process Line?
With over 25 years of experience, Munimax is your reliable partner for food and beverage process line installations. Our company has achieved the ISO 9001:2015 standard, certificate number 14508, 14509 by JAS-ANZ of Australia, New Zealand. With internationally recognized standards, we are committed in producing and continue to innovate our products to meet the demand of customers from all around the world.
Our technology standards and welding standards can also assure you the quality of our products. Our welding machine can be done with the repeatability precision and QA/QC verification possible with mechanized welding. The acceptance limits are programed for each critical weld parameter. At the completion of the welding process, a printout record details on whether the weld was performed within the defined limit for acceptable weld quality or not. If there is any critical parameter falls outside the defined limit, Muninmax’s engineers will immediately know to fix the error- making our welding process precise and reliable.
We applied specific software- such as AutoCAD, PV Elite, CRDWorx, etc, to design new plants or to modernize the existing ones. All these softwares can help us achieve the accurate and precise results in our designs. Our machines’ designs are also optimized to give the shortest time for Return on Investment and to guarantee the plant performance.
Coconut Cream and Coconut Milk Market
The market for coconut milk and cream was valued at $2,662.2 Million USD in 2021 and is predicted to achieve a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.35% during the forecast period if 2022-2027. It is expected that growing consumer concerns associated with the consumption of conventional dairy-based food and beverage products, and people adopting vegan diets due to rising health awareness will drive the growth of coconut cream and milk market. According to an analysis, sales for coconut milk products have grown at a 5.4% CAGR between the period of 2016 to 2020.
Coconut’s by-products are also vastly used in coffee, confectionery, bakery goods, hence, making the demand for coconuts to become a rapid upward curve. Coconuts are vastly used in South Asian cuisines- such as Indonesian, Thai, Indian, Burmese, Sir Lankan, as well. Additionally, coconut milk and cream extract have become a staple part of the functional beverages industry- as the millennial populace has shown a strong preference in coconut milk as it has both health benefits and taste.
Source : https://www.mordorintelligence.com/industry-reports/global-coconut-milk-and-cream-market
Requirements For Coconut Process Line
The required machineries and equipments for coconut water and coconut milk process lines are as follow:
1. Conveyors (Inspection Conveyor, Collection Conveyor, Marry-Go-Round Conveyor, Screw Conveyor, Distribution Conveyor)
2. Shell Splitter
3. Washer
4. Grinder
5. Low Pressure Extractor (LP Press) (for 1st stage)
6. Horizontal High Pressure Extractor (HP Press) (for 2nd and 3rd stage)
7. Vibration Strainer
8. Tanks (Storage Tank, Blending Tank, Mixing Tank, Aseptic Tank)
9. Separator
10. Pasteurizer/UHT
11. Aseptic Filler
These are the required main equipments for the supply of one whole complete system of coconut water and coconut milk. The system can handle the capacity of 30 tons of white coconut meat per day as the following design basis:
Product : 21-25% fat coconut milk in an aluminum paper carton
5-7 brix Coconut water in aluminum foil bag
Capacity 1 : 6,000 kg/hour for dehusked coconut, base on 1kg of coconut
Capacity 2 : 3,750 kg/hour for white coconut meat (Upstream)
Capacity 3 : 5,000 liters/hour for coconut milk/coconut water production (Downstream)
Yield recovery : Coconut milk 130% at 21% fat calculated based on coconut meat = 40,950 L/day
: Coconut water 30%, cacluated based on whole coconut = 27,000/day
Automatic Coconut Drilling Machine
Muninmax’s Automatic Coconut Drilling Machine is ideal for drilling through the coconut to drain coconut water. The machine can handle 15 raw coconuts per minute. The condition of coconut should be de-husked, and with a size of 0.7 kilograms (11 cm diameter) to 1.4 kilograms (14 cm diameter).
Grinder
In the coconut milk process line, it is necessary to grind the coconut meat into fine particles to get good recovery rate from the raw materials. In order to make the coconut particles identical and smooth, grinder is used to crush the coconut meat. The general working principle is that once the coconut meat entered the crushing chamber, the pressure will be continuously generated on the crushing cone. The blades inside the machine are evenly distributed on the rotating disk and the blades that rotate with the cone. The coconut meat is then cut, beaten and crushed to become the coconut particles. The crushed particles are discharged directly from the mill cavity of the main machine, and the size of the particles can also be adjusted by changing the mesh screen.
Extractors
For the extraction stage, two to three stages of extractors are usually used to get the best yield. After the coconut meats are washed and grinded, the crushed materials will be put into the extraction machines via the inlet housing. The screw inside the machine will then carry the coconut to pass through the screen set. The perforated screen hole diameter depends on the characteristics of the fruit’s pulp or meat- normally, the diameter is around 0.5 to 1.5 mm. The pressure cone valve against the edge of the outlet housing determines the quantity of liquid extracted- meaning high pressure, high liquid yield, and high dryness of pomace. The pressure is normally about 3.5-4.0 Barg for low-pressure extractors’ and vertical high-pressure extractors’ press which is forced by air cylinder and pneumatical system.
Separator
After the coconut water is extracted, the liquid is stored in the tanks. This liquid can contain small particles like coconut meat, as well as oil. Therefore, it is necessary to use a separate to separate and remove the solid particles and also to remove the oil from the water. This is to prevent oxidation and discoloration. The separator also help the product to maintain the highest nutritional value and all the healthy properties present inside the coconut water. The flavor profile of the coconut water is not also compromised after going through the separator- making them ideal and essential for the coconut processing line.
Pasteurizing
Pasteurizing preserves the food by inactivating the enzyme and destructing the relatively heat-sensitive micro-organisms while causing a minimal change in sensory characteristics, or nutritive value of food. The severity of the heat treatment and the extended shelf life result are determined mostly by the pH level of the food. There are 3 categories of Sterilization machines available at Muninmax and customers can choose the ones that will be fitting for their process lines.
Cooker/Cooler
Some liquid foods are pasteurized after being filled into the containers. Hot water is normally used if the food is packaged in a glass, PET, or plastic pouch to reduce the risk of thermal shock or crack to the containers. The maximum temperature differences between the containers and the media (hot water/steam) must be taken into account to match with the product’s shelf life and quality. Pasteurizing is a relatively mild treatment that is usually performed below 100°C to extend the shelf life of the products from several months till more than a year. The main purpose of this cooker water bath is recommended for products with a pH level below 4.5. In low-acid food (pH >4.5), our recommendation is to use the steam or hot water retort that is cooked under pressurization so that it can be sterilized over 100°C till 140°C
UHT/Pasteurizer
UHT or Ultra Heat Temperature is the processing of liquid products, viscosity products, and liquid that contains less than 65% particulate product, then combining with aseptic packing to render stabilized during storage at room temperature for up to 12 months. UHT process’s aim is to produce a commercially sterile product. The process involves heating the product in a continuous flow system to a
high temperature ~100 – 145 ºC and holding the temperature for a short time ~6-60 seconds. After the holding stage, it is continuous flow to cooling stage at 2ºC – 30ºC.
Retort
Retort sterilizers are suitable for all kinds of hermetically sealed food containers – such as tin cans, glass jars, pouches, etc. The machine type is a new, outstanding and economic thermal processing system and consists of still retort with combined shell and tube heat exchanger and water spray. Retorts are economical choices for sterilization due to their considerably low stream and cooling water consumption. Muninmax’s retort machines include automatic control for every sequence of operation with PLC and HMI (Touch Operation). Temperature, pressure and cooking/cooling time ae all selectable with no limited preset set points. Process parameters are automatically monitored on the HMI and Circular paper recorder as well.
Aseptic Bag Filler
During this stage of the process line, the sterilized containers are filled with an aseptic product by using aseptic bag filling machines in a sterile environment and then, sealed to prevent any contamination. The Muninmax Aseptic Bulk Filler machine is designed to fill fluids, low-acid and high-acid single strength, concentrated, and particulate products into respective containers under aseptic conditions. The machine is built to fill up to 20-10,000 liters or 6-300 gallons. The capacity of each machine depends on the bag sie, pressure, operator’s skill and product supply facilities as well.
There are three main operating cycles while using the Munimax Aseptic Bulk Filling machine- machine sterilization, filling, and cleaning. All three cycles work automatically.
