vegetable processing machinery: the key support for the efficient development of vegetable industry
With the growing demand for vegetable consumption and the pursuit of diversification and high quality of vegetable products, the vegetable processing industry is becoming more and more prosperous. In this process, vegetable processing machinery plays an irreplaceable role. It runs through all aspects of vegetables from raw materials to finished products, covering cleaning, cutting, grading, processing, packaging and other aspects, greatly improving the efficiency and quality of vegetable processing, and promoting the modern development of vegetable industry.
vegetable processing machinery
- cleaning machinery
- vegetables often have soil, impurities and pesticide residues on the surface after harvest. The role of cleaning machinery is to remove these pollutants and ensure the health and safety of vegetables. The common cleaning machine has a spray type cleaning machine, which sprays high-pressure water through multiple nozzles to wash vegetables from different angles. For vegetables with complex structures such as broccoli and celery, the water flow can go deep into the gaps to wash away impurities. There is also a drum washing machine, the vegetables in the rotating drum rolling, rubbing with the brush on the wall of the cylinder, accompanied by the washing of water, effectively remove the dirt on the surface.
- Bubble cleaning machine is also an important cleaning equipment. It generates a large number of bubbles at the bottom to drive vegetables to roll in the water. This method has a significant effect on removing light impurities attached to the surface of vegetables, such as dust and small particles. In some large vegetable processing enterprises, combined cleaning equipment will be used to combine different cleaning methods to achieve the best cleaning effect.
- cutting machinery
cutting machinery can shape vegetables according to different requirements. For example, the slicer can cut carrots, cucumbers, etc. into uniform slices, and the cutting thickness can be accurately adjusted according to requirements, which is very important for the production of vegetable potato chips or the processing of dishes that require uniform specifications. Dicing machine can cut vegetables into cubes or cuboid pieces, widely used in the production of vegetable salad, canned products. The shredder can cut vegetables, such as onions and potatoes, into slender filaments to meet the production needs of stir-frying or cold dishes.
Most of these cutting machines use high-speed rotating tools and have safety protection devices to prevent operator injuries. At the same time, in order to improve production efficiency, some cutting machines are also equipped with automatic feeding devices, which can continuously cut vegetables.
- grading machinery
grading machinery is to divide vegetables into different grades according to their size, shape, weight, color and other characteristics. The optical classifier uses optical sensors to detect the color, shape and other appearance characteristics of vegetables, and can quickly and accurately distinguish vegetables with qualified appearance from defective vegetables. For example, in tomato processing, tomatoes with bright colors and regular shapes can be screened for fresh food packaging, while tomatoes with irregular shapes or slight damage can be screened for processing tomato paste.
weight graders are graded by measuring the weight of vegetables. For example, in potato grading, large potatoes may be used to make French fries, medium-sized potatoes are used for home cooking packaging, and small potatoes may be used for animal feed processing. This grading method helps to improve the utilization value of vegetables and meet the needs of different markets.
- processing machinery (except cutting)
blanching machinery is indispensable in vegetable processing. Blanching is the process of placing vegetables in hot water or steam for a short period of time. The blanching machine can accurately control the temperature and time. For example, for green leafy vegetables such as spinach, blanching can inactivate the enzymes in the vegetables and prevent discoloration and nutrient loss during subsequent storage.
dehydration machinery is also one of the common processing machinery. By hot air drying, vacuum freeze drying and other ways to remove the moisture in vegetables, made dehydrated vegetables. The hot air dryer uses hot air to evaporate the moisture in vegetables, which is suitable for dehydration processing of some vegetables that are not particularly high in nutritional composition and appearance requirements; while the vacuum freeze dryer directly sublimates the moisture in vegetables under low temperature and low pressure. This method can better retain the nutrients, color and flavor of vegetables, and is often used in the processing of high-grade dehydrated vegetables, such as freeze-dried strawberries, freeze-dried mushrooms, etc.
- Packaging Machinery
Packaging machinery is responsible for packaging the processed vegetables to extend their shelf life and facilitate transportation and sales. The vacuum packaging machine reduces the oxygen content and inhibits the growth and reproduction of microorganisms by extracting the air in the packaging bag. It is often used for the preservation of fresh vegetables, such as fresh beans and asparagus. The modified atmosphere packaging machine can adjust the gas composition in the packaging bag, such as reducing the oxygen content, increasing the carbon dioxide content, and creating an environment that inhibits the respiration of vegetables. It is suitable for the packaging of perishable vegetables such as lettuce and broccoli.
In addition, there are labeling machinery and code spraying machinery, which can put labels on the packaging, print the production date, shelf life, ingredients and other information to facilitate consumers to identify and purchase.
Vegetable Processing Machinerydevelopment status
at present, the domestic vegetable processing machinery has made great progress. In some large vegetable processing enterprises, processing machinery with high degree of automation has been widely used. For example, in some modern kimchi processing plants, from cabbage cleaning, cutting to pickling, packaging, almost all can be completed through automated production lines. However, in some small vegetable processing enterprises and farmers, due to limited funds, they still use some more traditional and simple processing machinery, and even some processing links rely on manual operation.
from the technical level, China's vegetable processing machinery in some areas has reached the international advanced level, such as some cutting machinery cutting accuracy and speed can be comparable with similar foreign products. However, some high-end equipment, such as high-precision optical classifiers and large vacuum freeze dryers, still rely on imports.
Vegetable Processing Machinerydevelopment trend
- intelligent: The future of vegetable processing machinery will be more intelligent. Through the application of sensors, Internet of Things and other technologies, processing machinery can monitor the processing status of vegetables in real time, such as the cleanliness of cleaning, cutting accuracy, temperature and humidity during processing, and automatically adjust according to preset parameters. For example, when the cleaning of vegetables in the cleaning machine reaches the standard, the cleaning program can be automatically stopped; when the cutting machine's tool is worn, it can automatically alarm and prompt the replacement of the tool.
- multi-functional integration: In order to meet the needs of different vegetable processing enterprises, processing machinery will develop in the direction of multi-functional integration. A piece of equipment can have a variety of functions, such as both cleaning and cutting, or both blanching and dehydration. This can reduce the floor space of the equipment and reduce the equipment procurement cost of the enterprise.
- Energy saving and environmental protection: With the enhancement of environmental awareness, vegetable processing machinery will pay more attention to energy conservation and environmental protection. In the design, more efficient energy utilization methods will be adopted, such as energy-saving motors and optimized heating systems to reduce energy consumption. At the same time, in the process of processing, more attention will be paid to reducing the discharge of waste water and waste gas, and improving the recycling rate of resources.
Vegetable Processing Machinery in Vegetable Industry
- Improve production efficiency
vegetable processing machinery greatly shortens the time of vegetable processing. For example, it may take several hours to manually clean a ton of vegetables, while it only takes tens of minutes to use a cleaning machine. The same is true for cutting, grading and other links. Mechanical processing can process a large number of vegetables in a short time to meet the market's large demand for vegetable products, especially in the peak season of vegetable harvest, which can effectively solve the problem of vegetable backlog and untimely processing.
- improve product quality
precise operation of vegetable processing machinery can ensure the quality of vegetable products. Cutting machinery can cut out vegetables with uniform specifications, making the product more beautiful in appearance; blanching machinery and dehydration machinery can accurately control the processing conditions and retain the nutrients of vegetables; packaging machinery can provide a good packaging environment and extend the shelf life of vegetables. Reduce the loss during storage and transportation.
- to promote industrial upgrading
has promoted the transformation of vegetable industry from traditional manual processing to modern and automatic processing. This not only improves the competitiveness of vegetable processing enterprises, but also drives the development of related industries, such as machinery manufacturing, packaging materials and other industries. At the same time, it is also conducive to improving the overall economic benefits of the vegetable industry, promoting farmers' income and rural economic development.
vegetable processing machinery has a vital position in the modern vegetable industry. It covers a number of functional types, its development status has both achievements and challenges, and the future development trend will be in the direction of intelligence, multi-functional integration and energy conservation and environmental protection. With the continuous development and improvement of vegetable processing machinery, it will continue to promote the efficient and high-quality development of the vegetable industry, meet the growing demand for vegetable products, and play an irreplaceable role in ensuring the supply of vegetables and improving the added value of vegetables.
