Dehydrated Pulp Slurry Process for Quality Retention
Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for dehydrating fruit pulp slurry result in irreversible structural and chemical changes, leading to a product that does not retain its original flavor, texture, and economic value, making it unsuitable for human consumption and limiting its use to animal feed or additives.
Innovation Solution
A process involving a multi-stage concurrent washing step to remove sugars, followed by mechanical, chemical, or enzymatic dewatering, and gentle drying at temperatures not exceeding 60°C or 80°C to produce a dehydrated pulp slurry with a moisture content of less than 10 wt%, which retains its natural characteristics upon rehydration.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If current dehydrating methods are used to reduce water content, then shipping and storage costs are reduced, but the pulp undergoes irreversible structural and chemical changes that destroy its quality
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by removing sugars from the pulp slurry before the dehydration process. This pre-treatment step prevents sugar degradation and associated structural damage during subsequent dehydration, allowing the pulp to maintain its quality while still achieving the water removal needed for cost-effective shipping and storage.
2Temperature
If dehydration is performed to enable ambient temperature storage, then frozen storage requirements are eliminated, but the pulp quality deteriorates making it unsuitable for human consumption
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes sugars from the pulp slurry before dehydration to prevent sugar degradation and associated quality damage. This preliminary de-sugaring step ensures that when dehydration occurs at ambient temperatures, the pulp maintains its structural integrity, color, and texture, preserving its reliability for human consumption.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the chemical composition parameters of the pulp by removing sugars, which fundamentally alters how the pulp responds to dehydration. This parameter change prevents the formation of harmful compounds during dehydration and allows the pulp to be dried to low moisture content while retaining quality attributes necessary for human consumption.
3Manufacturing precision
If multi-stage de-sugaring and gentle drying processes are used to preserve pulp quality, then processing complexity increases, but product value is maintained
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the dehydration process into distinct stages: de-sugaring followed by gentle drying. This segmentation allows each stage to be optimized independently - the de-sugaring stage removes sugars to prevent degradation, while the gentle drying stage removes water without causing thermal damage. The result is high-quality pulp that justifies the additional processing steps.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The process effectively reduces the water content of the pulp slurry, allowing for ambient temperature storage and shipping, while maintaining the original color, shape, and texture of the reconstituted product, thereby increasing its economic value and consumer appeal.
Implementation Method 1
de-sugaring a fruit pulp slurry, said de-sugaring process producing a washed fruit pulp slurry
Implementation Method 2
de-sugaring step comprises a multi-stage concurrent washing process
Implementation Method 3
dewatering step comprising mechanical dewatering
Implementation Method 4
dewatering step comprising mechanical dewatering, chemical dewatering
Implementation Method 5
dewatering step comprising mechanical dewatering, chemical dewatering and/or enzymatic dewatering
Implementation Method 6
drying step wherein the temperature of the pulp in the de-sugared pulp slurry does not exceed 60°C or 80°C
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention relates to a process for making a dehydrated pulp slurry comprising the steps of de-sugaring a pulp slurry, said de-sugaring process producing a pulp slurry with substantially no sugar content, and dehydrating said pulp slurry. The dehydrated pulp slurry produced by this process is such that, when reconstituted, the color, shape, and texture of the pulp contained therein is substantially the same as it was prior to undergoing the dehydrating step.