A Visit To Fairy Food Products

Doddaballapura Industrial Area On 16

May, 2011, under the guidance of our respected teacher Dr. K.N. Sreenivas, Professor and University Head of Post Harvest Technology, College of Horticulture, UHS campus, Bangalore, the M.Sc. students of Post Harvest Technology and Fruit Science paid a visit to Fairy food products processing industry, Doddaballapura industrial area to grasp some firsthand information of the industry. We were warmly welcomed by Mr. Karthikeyan, Assistant manager who gave us an insight view of the industry and explain in detail the various scenario to give us an idea of the technological know- how of the working of the industry. The industrial visit can be grouped as a visit to 5 units (ripening unit, pulping unit, quality checking unit, canning unit and storing unit) consisting of various sub-unit. A detailed report of the visit is summarized below:
1.
th

Ripening unit:
Firstly, we were introduced to the ripening rooms, where bulks of fresh mangoes were stored. This unit mainly emphasized on the storing of the procured fruits and grading for ripening purpose. The industry has two ripening chamber presently occupied with mango fruits. The ripening was carried out by natural method induced by self triggered production of natural ethylene. The rooms were constructed using stone bricks with galvanized sheet as cover. A cushioning floor of paddy straw was provided to save the perishables for mechanical injury. Details history of the mangoes like place of collection, date of collection, date on which sorting is done and other necessary information were well maintained for each lots procured. The lots undergoes a prior sorting and grading for storage then the fruits are graded or sorted in 5th or 6th day from the date of storing. Grading was done on the basis of smoothness of the fruit and colour development. It takes approximately 15days to completely ripen a lot. The damaged and waste fruits accounts upto 2 to 2.5 % from whole lot. The graded ripen fruits are stored in plastic trays of 25 kgs capacity for easy handling. Record of damaged and spoiled fruits are also maintained and were again sorted for use in other purpose. PLW- physiological loss in weight accounts around 13% of loss in weight according to storage condition. Hence, after ripening a lot of 100kg mangoes will yield approximately 87kg.

2.

Processing unit:

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This unit covers all the preliminary treatments as soon as the fruit is ripen and other processes by which the fruit is turned into fine pulp. The steps are briefed below: a. Washing: The ripen fruits are introduced to washing unit where they are washed. The fruits are first washed using chlorinated water of concentration 2ppm. For every 5 to 6 tons of fruits washed the water is changed. Then the fruit passes through a jet of water on the conveyor belt to remove excess chlorine adhered to the fruits. b. Grading: The washed fruits are brought in by conveyor belt and grading is done manually. The damaged, diseased and insect infested parts are all discarded using knife. Final washing is again carried out prior to introduction to de- stoner unit. c. De -stoner: The fruits are then introduced to the de -stoner machine using a screw type conveyor. Here, the stones, peel and fiber are separated from the pulp. The crude pulp will be collected in the tank below while the fiber, peel and the stone goes out through 3 holes. d. Pulping: The crude pulp from de-stoner is fed into the pulper fitted with 1/32 inch sieve (mango pulp extraction) to obtain a fine pulp. It also removes the fiber and small peel. e. Heating: The pulp is then passed through a heating chamber where the temperature is maintained at about 550C. This homogenizes the pulp making easy movement of the pulp and also carries out the work of pasteurisation upto some extend. f. Decanting: Despite the above process some brown (from the peel) and black specks (from the seeds) in the pulp are retained. These are finally removed by this decanting machine. g. Batch standardization tank: This tank does the work on standardization of pulp into different batches.
3.

Quality checking unit:

The extracted pulp should fulfill certain quality specification for a good quality product before being canned. Here, the extracted pulp undergoes various quality checks to maintain it. The quality checked being undertaken there are below:
a) TSS check: Using hand refractometer. b) Acidity check: By titration method using an alkali (NaOH).

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c) Specks check: 10 ml of the pulp is taken and cooled. It is poured on a ceramic plate

then pressed with a glass. Numbers of specks counted. Only 3 to 4 specks/10 ml sample is permitted.
d) Consistency check: Ford cup no. 4 (which holds 100ml of the pulp) is used and the

time taken to empty the pulp is recorded.

4. Canning unit:
This unit performs the work from reforming the flat cans till the pulped is finally canned and cooled for storing. The unit has a capacity of 15,000 to 20,000 canned products per day. The various function performed are briefed below:
a) Reforming units: The imported flattened cans are reformed to give a cylindrical

shape using this machine. The canned was lined with Teflon coating on the welded part.
b) Flanging unit: This machine flanges the cans which will curl up the ends. This

facilitates the seaming operation with the lid.

c) Expansible ring unit: This machine makes grooves on the can so that while

processing it allow expansion of the can without bursting.

d) Embossing unit: The lid is embossed with a code of the products. The code

embossed presently was FFNMP meaning Fairy Food Products Neelum Mango Pulp.
e) Double Seaming unit: This machine seams one ends of the cans by two rollers. The

first one forms the seam and the other one tightens it.
f) Filling unit: Here one end seamed cans are filled with the pulp upto the brim. It is a

semi automatic machine.

g) Double can seaming unit: The one end seamed cans filled with pulp are seamed

with the lid. This machine takes lesser time than the previous seaming machine.
h) Cooling tanks: The processed cans are cooled using chlorine water of concentration

2ppm followed by storing in cooling room where the temperature is brought down to 40 450C. It help in preventing cans from over cooking due to continuous heat, cross contamination and finally helps in retaining colour, flavour of the pulp. N.B.
1. Checking is carried proper working out for every 2000 cans seamed and in case of any

defects required adjustment is undertaken. 2. A concave end can signifies good condition while a convex end on signifies spoilage of the product.

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Types of cans used:

i. ii. iii.

Plain cans: less acid foods, Acid resistant lacquered cans (ARL cans): high acid foods White lacquered cans.

5. Storing unit:
This unit mainly emphasized on storing of the canned products and other necessary treatment, if required, before shipping.
1. Oiling unit: Since the cans are dipped in the water for cooling, there are high chances of

the can getting rusted at both the end during storing. In order to avoid this ends of the cans are oiled with edible oil by rolling down in a wooden frame where provision are provided to smear the oil by a pre oiled cloth.
2. Storing unit: The cans are then stored by stacking. It is made sure that cans are cooled

properly to prevent stack burning. These stored cans are ready for shipping as per the scheduled.

Discussion:
After getting a good glimpse and exposed to various method of working of the industry, he spared some time for a brain storming session discussing other various aspects in the related field. A brief of the session is as follows: Processing cost: To produce 1 ton of pulp = Rs.3000/- as processing cost (labour, fuel, electricity, loading &unloading charges) Price of A10 size can = Rs.25/- per can. Raw material (mangoes) = Rs. 25/- per Kg (but it is highly variable owing to availability)
Important measures to be taken for sealing: There should be rubber gaskets in the lid and on the seam to provide better seam and

prevent leakage.
There should be expansible rings on the top cover to provide necessary space for

expansion during processing.

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 The seam length for A10 size should be 0.125 to 0.130inches. It should not exceed 0.085

inches, this lead to development of wrinkles on the seam.

The body hook should be 0.05 to 0.09 inches. In case of less than specified tighten in 2nd

rolling operation.
The tower hook should be 0.080 to 0.085 inches. In case of less than specified tighten in 1st rolling operation. Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points i. ii. iii. iv. v. vi. CCP1 Washing. CCP2 Biological hazard for seaming. CCP3 Batch standardization and chemical hazard. CCP4 Biological hazard, heating & pasteurization. CCP5 Filling and biological hazard. POA6 Retorting temperature. (POA Point of Attention).

Various specifications for the finished products:

Mango pulp:

Variety
1. Alphonso mango pulp 2. Totapuri mango pulp 3. Raspuri mango pulp 4. Neelum mango pulp

TSS
16 to 180B 13.5 to 150B 15 to 160B 15 to 160B

Acidity
0.8 to 0.9% 0.4 to 0.5% 0.9 to 1.0% 0.45 to 0.50%

pH
3.6 to 3.9 3.7 to 4.0 3.6 to 3.9 3.7 to 4.0

Consistency
255sec
Lower -

Guava pulp: 1/48 inches sized sieves are used in the pulper (because of gritty nature of guava).

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 TSS = 9 to 100B Acidity (citric acid) = 0.45 to 0.5%, Added ascorbic = 0.025 to 0.035% and Consistency (Ford cup no 4) = 90 - 100sec.

Conclusion:

The visit has given us good exposures to the real practical world of a canning industry beyond the imaginative learning inside a classroom. We also came across various problem faced by them and the way it is tackled which is not covered by any of the reputed books. We warmly thank our course teacher, Dr. K. N. Sreenivas for arranging such a successful visit and also the related authority of the college for giving a positive approval. Great thanks to Mr. Karthikeyan, Assistant Manager, Fairy food Products, for taking the pain to take us to various unit of the industry and enlightening us despite his busy schedule. We believe that the college authority will take up such a constructive visit for better learning of the students in near future.

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