2025-12-26
Mangoes, known as the "golden fruit" among tropical fruits, have a processing industry chain covering multiple areas such as juice, jam, dried fruit, and frozen fruit pieces. A complete mango processing production line requires differentiated equipment based on product type (e.g., NFC juice, concentrated juice, jam, freeze-dried sheets, etc.), but the equipment configuration for core stages shares commonalities. The following analyzes the core equipment requirements of a mango processing production line from four major modules: raw material pretreatment, processing, sterilization and filling, and deep processing extension.
The pretreatment of mango raw materials is a crucial step in ensuring processing quality. It requires removing impurities and standardizing raw material specifications through processes such as washing, sorting, peeling, and pitting.
Production lines typically employ a combination of a bubble washer, a brush washer, and a high-pressure spray system. The bubble washer removes surface dirt and sand through turbulent air bubbles, the brush washer further scrubs the skin's fuzz, and then a three-stage rinse is performed by the high-pressure spray system to ensure the microbial load is reduced to safe standards. Some production lines also add a 1%-2% sodium hypochlorite solution for disinfection during the cleaning process to prevent contamination in subsequent processing.
The photoelectric fruit inspector is the central equipment in the sorting process. It automatically removes rotten and insect-infested fruit using spectral analysis technology, achieving a sorting accuracy of over 95%. For production lines that require grading by maturity, a color sorter is also included, separating mangoes into different grades based on color differences to ensure precise control of subsequent processing parameters (such as juicing pressure and sterilization temperature).
Depending on the characteristics of the mango variety, peeling and pitting equipment is divided into mechanical and chemical types. Firm mangoes (such as the Tainong mango) are typically peeled using mechanical peelers, which remove the skin through rotating blades or grinding wheels. Soft, ripe mangoes (such as the Keitt mango) are peeled using steam or lye. The lye peeling parameters are usually a 5%-10% NaOH solution, soaked at 80-90℃ for 1-2 minutes, followed by high-pressure water rinsing to remove residual lye. The pitting process relies on a mango-specific pitting machine, whose rotating blades precisely separate the pit from the flesh, preventing fiber residue from affecting the taste.
The processing stage involves crushing, juicing, and concentration to transform mangoes into different intermediate products. Equipment selection directly affects juice yield and product quality.
Hammer crushers or screw presses can crush mango flesh into 2-5mm particles. Adding ascorbic acid (vitamin C) during crushing prevents oxidation and browning of the flesh. For jam production lines that require retaining the fruit's texture, the particle size can be adjusted to 3-15mm.
Belt presses and screw presses are the mainstream juicing equipment. Belt presses use two filter belts to compress the pulp, achieving a juice yield of 60%-75%. The residue can be further extracted through enzymatic hydrolysis. Screw presses use a screw shaft to propel the pulp, achieving pulp-liquid separation, suitable for processing high-viscosity pulp.
Multi-effect evaporators and reverse osmosis membrane systems are the core equipment in the concentration process. Multi-effect evaporators use multi-stage heating to evaporate water, concentrating juice from 12°Brix to 30-70°Brix. A four-effect evaporator reduces energy consumption by 40% compared to a single-effect unit. Reverse osmosis membrane systems retain flavor compounds through physical filtration, suitable for producing NFC (Not From Concentrate) juice.
The sterilization and filling processes require different technological approaches depending on the product's shelf life requirements to ensure microbial safety and flavor retention.
NFC (Not From Concentrate) juice typically uses pasteurization (85-95℃/30 seconds) or UHT (120-135℃/4-15 seconds). The former retains more nutrients, while the latter extends shelf life to 12 months. High-sugar products like jams achieve commercial sterility through boiling water sterilization (100℃/10-20 minutes) or autoclaving (121℃/15 minutes).
Aseptic filling machines are central equipment for long-shelf-life products, capable of filling Tetra Pak and PET bottles in environments with a cleanliness level of 100,000 (ISO Class 8). Vacuum sealing machines are suitable for glass bottles or metal cans, preventing oxidation and spoilage through vacuum sealing.
For high-value-added products such as freeze-dried tablets and vacuum-fried dried fruit, production lines require dedicated equipment to achieve process transformation.
Tunnel dryers use 60-70℃ hot air circulation for 6-8 hours to reduce mango moisture content to below 15%. Freeze-drying technology, using -30℃ freezing and vacuum sublimation, largely preserves color and nutrients, making it suitable for dried fruit production.
Isobaric filling machines combined with nitrogen replacement technology can extend the shelf life of dried fruit. Automatic weighing and packaging machines have an error control within ±1g, meeting the precise packaging needs of supermarkets and other retail channels.
A complete mango processing production line needs to integrate central equipment for cleaning, sorting, peeling and pitting, juicing, concentration, sterilization, and filling. Its configuration needs to be flexibly adjusted according to product type, production capacity, and cost budget. As consumers increasingly pursue health and quality, future mango processing equipment will evolve towards intelligence (e.g., AI sorting), energy saving (e.g., heat pump drying), and flexibility (e.g., modular combination), providing the industry with more efficient and sustainable solutions.
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