Food Unit

Operation-103
Lecture – 03
Date: 12-05-2024

By: M. Qazafi
 Contents
• Objective
• Definitions
• Preliminary Unit operation- Cleaning, sorting &
Grading - aims, methods and applications
 Objective of Unit Operation
• The main objective of Unit operation in Food
Processing:
• to study the principles and laws governing the physical,
chemical, or biochemical stages of different processes,
and the apparatus or equipment by which such stages
are industrially carried out.
• The studies should be focused on the transformation
processes of agricultural raw materials into final
products, or on the conservation of materials and
products
Preliminary Unit operation- Cleaning, sorting
& Grading - aims, methods and applications

The preliminary preparative operations in food

processing include
• Cleaning
• Sorting and
• Grading of food raw material.
These may be considered as separation operations.
 Definitions
Cleaning
• Cleaning involves the separation of contaminants
from the desired raw materials.
Sorting
• Sorting involves the separation of the raw materials
into different categories based on their physical
characteristics such as size, shape and colour.
Grading
• Grading involves the separation of the raw
materials into categories based on the differences
in their overall quality
Cleaning of food raw materials
Cleaning is an essential preliminary operation in any
food industry.
The ultimate quality of the finished product, storage
stability, organoleptic properties, safety from health
hazards, and consumer acceptance depends on the
cleaning process.
The methods adopted depend on the type of raw
material, type and extent of contamination, the
degree of cleaning to be achieved and the type of
finished product.
Cleaning of food raw materials
Different food raw materials are associated with different
types of contaminants. These include
• Mineral contaminants- soil, sand, stone metallic
particles, grease and oil.
• Plant part- stalks, pits, husks and rope,
• Animal parts and contaminants—excreta, hair, insects
eggs and body part
• Chemical contamination- sprayed residues of pesticides,
insecticides and fertilizers
• Microbial contaminants—microorganisms and their
metabolites.
 Elements in Halal/4P in Halal
• P-1 People
• P-2 Product/Raw material
• P-3 Process
• P-4 Plant
Cleaning of food raw materials
The chosen cleaning process must satisfy the following requirements in order
to achieve the aforesaid objective:-
1. The separation efficiency of the process must be high and consistent and
should produce minimum wastage of good material
2. Damage of cleaned raw material must be avoided.
3. Recontamination of the cleaned food should be avoided by complete
removal of the contaminants.
4. The design of the process equipment should be such that recontamination
of the cleaned food due to flying dust or wash water is prevented.
5. The cleaning process must leave the cleaned surface in acceptable
condition,
6. The volume and concentration of liquid effluents must be kept be
minimum and the effluents should be disposed off effectively.
Complete cleaning of a raw material is not possible and in practice, a balanced
approach, considering the economic aspects of cleaning and the need to
produce good quality food, is usually adopted,
 Cleaning Methods
The cleaning methods can be classified into two
groups, namely
Dry cleaning methods
• which include screening, brushing, aspiration,
abrasion and magnetic separation
Wet cleaning methods
• which include soaking, spraying, flotation,
ultrasonic cleaning, filtration and settling.
 Dry cleaning methods
These methods are relatively cheap and convenient as the
cleaned surface is dry However, a major drawback is the
spread of dust.
• Screening-Screens are primarily size separators or sorting
machines but may be used as cleaning equipment for
removing contaminants of different size from that of the
raw material.
• These machines are useful in cleaning fine materials such
as flour and ground spices but must be frequently
cleaned to remove oversized contaminants which may
otherwise get pulverized due to abrasion and spread
contamination of the raw material.
 Dry cleaning methods
• Abrasion cleaning-
• Abrasion between food particles or between the
food and moving parts of cleaning machinery is
used to loosen and remove adhering contaminants.
• Tumblers, vibrators, abrasive discs and rotating
brushes are used for this purpose.
Dry cleaning methods
 Dry cleaning methods
Aspiration cleaning
• Aspiration (or winnowing) is based on the differences in
the aerodynamic properties of materials.
• The raw material to be cleaned is fed into a stream of
air flowing at controlled velocity to separate the raw
materials into two or more streams (e.g. light and heavy
streams).
• The cleaned products are usually discharged as the
middle stream leaving the heavy debris (stones, pieces
of metal or wood) behind while floating off the light
debris such as stalks, husks and hairs.
 Dry cleaning methods
Aspiration cleaning
• This method is used in cleaning cereals, nuts,
beans, onions, melon, eggs and otherfoods which
are not amenable to wetting. The method cannot
be used with oxidation-sensitive materials
Dry cleaning methods
 Dry cleaning methods
Magnetic cleaning
• This type of cleaning involves where the food is
contaminated with a high amount of metallic
material.
• Magnetic separators used for this type of cleaning
include rotating or stationary magnetic drums,
magnetized belts, magnets located over belts
carrying the food or staggered magnetized grids
through which the food is passed
Dry cleaning methods
Miscellaneous dry cleaning
methods
Miscellaneous dry cleaning methods-
• Such cleaning methods include:
• Electrostatic cleaning
• radio isotope separation
• X-ray separation
Miscellaneous dry cleaning
methods
Electrostatic cleaning
• Electrostatic cleaning can be used in a limited number of cases
where the surface charge on raw materials differs from
contaminating particles.
• The principle can be used to distinguish grains from other seeds
of similar geometry but differences in electrostatic charging of
materials under controlled humidity conditions, charged
particles being removed by oppositely charged or earthed
rollers, grids, etc. and it has also been described for cleaning
tea.
• The feed is conveyed on a charged belt and charged particles
are attracted to an oppositely charged electrode according to
their surface charge.
Miscellaneous dry cleaning
methods
Miscellaneous dry cleaning
methods
Radio isotope separation
• Clods of earths and stones may be separated from
the potatoes.
X-ray separation-
• Stones, gloss and metal fragments in foods such as
confectionery can be separated by this method.
 Wet cleaning methods
• Wet cleaning has the advantage of removing firmly
adherent soils and owing the use of detergents and
sanitizers.
• However, wet methods have a number of
disadvantages such as the use of large amounts of
high quality water and generation of large volume of
effluent (about 15,000 liters per ton of canned food).
• Wet cleaning methods include soaking, spray
washing, flotation washing and ultrasonic cleaning
methods.
 Wet cleaning methods
Soaking
• This is the simplest method and is often used as a
preliminary stage in the cleaning of heavily contaminated
root vegetables and other foods.
• Soaking softens adhering soil and also facilitates the removal
of sand, stone, and ether abrasive material.
• The use of warm water and detergents increase the
efficiency but the use of chemicals may affect the texture of
the food, e.g, sodium hexametaphosphate softens peas
while some metal ions toughen peas and peaches destined
for canning, Chlorination is used to decrease the bacterial
load of water in the soak tank.
 Wet cleaning methods
Spray washing.
• This is the most widely used method for wet
cleaning of fruits and vegetables.
• The surface of the food is subjected to water
sprays,
• The efficiency of spray washing depends on several
parameters such as water pressure, volume of
water, temperature, the distance of the food from
jets, the time of spraying and number of spray jets
used.
 Wet cleaning methods
Spray washing.
• A small volume of water at high pressure is the
most effective combination.
• High pressure sprays may be used to cut out parts
of peaches and tomatoes and to remove adherent
soil and black moulds on citrus fruits.
• It may damage ripe fruits and vegetables such as
straw berries and tomatoes and delicate vegetables
such as asparagus.
Wet cleaning methods
 Wet cleaning methods
• The washer is equipped with a central spray rod
which is fitted with jets for spraying water.
• A rubber disc cleaner requires less amount of water
for cleaning.
• It uses soft rubber discs spinning axially at about
500 rpm.
• The soil is collected into the base of the channel.
• The disc cleaner uses only about 20 liters of water
per ton of fruit while other washers use 1500-5000
litres
 Wet cleaning methods
Flotation washing
• The method depends on the differences in buoyancy of the desired
and undesired parts of the food raw material to be cleaned.
• For example, bruised or rotten apples sink in water and can be
removed at the base of tank and the good fruit can be collected as
overflow.
• The flotation washer effectively removes stones, dirt and plant
debris from peas, beans, dried fruits and similar materials.
• Water requirement is about 4,000-10,000 liters per ton of raw
material to be cleaned.
• Froth flotation has been used to separate peas from weed seeds by
immersing the peas in dilute mineral oil-detergent emulsion
through which air is blown, the contaminants float on foam and are
removed.
Wet cleaning methods
 Wet cleaning methods
Dewatering
• Wet cleaning results in a cleaned product that may
have some excess water adhering to it.
• Dewatering may be affected by passing the food
over vibratory screens or specially designed rotary
screens.
• In the case of cleaned peas for freezing, or washed
wheat for milling, centrifuges may be used.
• Occasionally it may be necessary to resort to drying
procedures, as in the case of cereals or fruits, which
arc to be stored or sold as fresh.
 Objectives of cleaning
The two main objectives of cleaning food raw
materials are
1. Removal of contaminants which constitute a
health hazard or which are aesthetically
unacceptable
2. Control of microbiological loads and biochemical
reactions which impair subsequent process
effectiveness and product quality.
 SORTING OF FOODS
• Sorting and grading are terms which are frequently
used interchangeably in the food processing industry,
but strictly speaking they are distinct operations.
• Sorting is a separation based cm a single measurable
property of raw material units, while grading is the
assessment of the overall quality of a food using a
number of attributes".
• Sorting may be regarded as a separation operation
based on the differences in physical properties of the
food raw materials or products such as colour, size,
shape or weights of the food raw material.
 SORTING OF FOODS
• Sorting is an important operation in controlling the
effectiveness of many processes in food industry.
• For example, sorted vegetables and fruits are better suited
for mechanized operations of peeling, pitting and coring or
blanching.
• Similarly, food materials of uniform size or shape are better
suited for efficient heat transfer during sterilization,
pasteurization, dehydration or freezing.
• Sorting and grading can both damage the food raw material
or product because of improper handling by human
operators (operator damage), dumping (dumping damage)
or dropping of material (drop damage).
• Such damages can be eliminated or minimized by choosing
effective food process.
 Sorting Methods
Sorting methods includes:
• Weight sorting
• Shape sorting
• Size sorting and
• Photometric or colour sorting.
 Sorting Methods
Weight Sorting
• Weight is usually the most precise method of sorting.
• The weight of a food unit is proportional to the cube of its
characteristic dimension and hence weight sorting is more precise
compared to dimensional sorting.
• Meat cuts, fish fillets, fruits such as apples, pears and citrus fruits,
vegetables such as potatoes, carrots and onions and eggs are sorted
by weight using spring-loaded, strain gauge, or electronic weighing
devices incorporated into conveying systems.
• An alternative system is to use the "catapult' principle where units are
thrown into different collecting section, depending on their weight.
• A disadvantage of weight sorting is the relatively long time required
per unit and other methods are more appropriate with smaller items
such as legumes or cereals, or if faster throughput is required
Sorting Methods
 Sorting Methods
Size Sorting
Different types of screens are used for size separation of
foods
The screen designs commonly used in food industry
may be grouped into two types:
(i) variable aperture screens using cable, belt, roller or
screw sorters and
(ii) fixed aperture screens using stationary, vibratory,
rotary, gyratory or reciprocating screens.
 Sorting Methods
Size Sorting
• Fixed aperture screens of flat-bed type are used in
preliminary sorting of potatoes, carrots and turnips.
• Multi-deck screens are used in size sorting of cereals,
nuts and also partly processed and finished foods such
as flour, sugar, salt, ground spices and herbs.
• Drum screens are used for sorting peas, beans and
other similar foods capable of withstanding tumbling
action in a rotating drum screen.
• Variable aperture screens with continuously variable
apertures of roller, belt or screw type find use in size
sorting of fruits and vegetables
Sorting Methods
Sorting Methods
 Sorting Methods
Shape sorting
• Shape sorting is adopted when food raw materials contain
undesirable material even after size or weight sorting and
cleaning.
• For example, cleaned and size or weight sorted wheat may still
contain weed seeds of similar size and weight compared to
wheat.
• Shape sorting on the basis of a combination of length and
diameter is useful under such circumstances.
• A disc sorter is used for shape sorting wheat, rice, oats and
barley.
• The principle is that disks or cylinders with accurately shaped
indentations will pick up seeds of the correct shape when rotated
through the stock, while other shapes will remain in the feed
Sorting Methods
 Sorting Methods
Photometric/Color sorting
• Photometric sorting uses optical properties of foods to effect
separation of desired material from contaminants.
• The goal is the separation of items that are discolored, toxic, not
as ripe as required, or still with hull.
• The color separator separates the fruits, vegetables or grains
due to difference in color or brightness.
• The color separators are generally used for larger crop seeds like
peas and beans.
• These seeds differ in color because of varietal differences and
also due to immaturity or disease.
• Color sorters are also used for color sorting harvested foodstuffs,
such as coffee, nuts, rice, and other cereals such as wheat or rye
and pulses.
 Sorting Methods
Photometric/Color sorting
• Two photocells are fixed at a particular angle, which direct both
beams to one point of the parabolic trajectory of the grains.
• A needle is placed on the other side, which is connected to a high
voltage source. When a beam falls on a dark object through
photoelectric cells, current is generated on the needle.
• The needle end receives a charge and imparts it to the dark
seeds.
• The grains are then passed between two electrodes with a high
potential difference between them.
• The seed is compared with a selected background or color range,
and is separated into two fractions according to difference in
color.
• Since this machine views each produce individually, the capacity is
 Sorting Methods
Photometric/Color sorting-
• Reflectance properties are used to indicate:
• Raw material maturity (e.g. color of fruit, vegetables and
meat indicates ripeness and freshness characterize ;)
• the presence of surface defects (e.g. worm holed cereals
or nuts and bruised fruits)
• The extent of heat processing (e.g. in the
manufacture of bread and potato chips or crisps).
Sorting Methods
 Sorting Methods
Other sorting methods
• Sorting on the basis of surface roughness or
stickiness may be used for separating seeds.
• In Surface Texture/Roughness Separator the mixture
to be separated is fed over the centre of an inclined
draper belt moving in upward direction.
• The round and smooth grains roll or slide down the
draper at faster rate than the upward motion of the
belt, and these are discharged in a hopper.
• The flat shape or rough surfaced particles are carried
to the top of the inclined draper and dropped off into
another hopper.
 GRADING OF FOODS
Grading is quality separation on the basis of an
overall assessment of those properties, which affect
the acceptance of the food raw material for
processing, and finished food product for consumer
acceptance and safety. The grading factors which
determine the quality of the food include:
• Process suitability
• consumer safety
• Consumer acceptance.
 GRADING OF FOODS
• The grading parameters commonly used in food
industry include the following:
• size and shape as functional and acceptability factors,
• maturity to describe the freshness of eggs, ripeness of
fruits and aging of meat,
• texture to grade the crumb structure in bread and cakes,
crispness in apples and viscosity of creams
• flavour and aroma as indicators of ripeness of fruits as
well as effectiveness of processing conditions,
• colour as indicator for consumer acceptability and
effectiveness of process,
• Blemishes such as cloudy yolk, blood spot and shell cracks
in eggs, bruises in fruits and insect holes in coffee beans
and cereals to indicate their defect and impurity.
 GRADING OF FOODS
• Contaminants and undesired parts such as rodent
hair and insect parts in flour, soil and spray residues
on fruits and vegetables, microorganisms and their
metabolites on meat, toxic metals in shell fish, hone
fragments in meat products, pod residues in peas
and beans and stalks and stones in fruits all these
are the adverse qualities of the raw food materials.
 GRADING OF FOODS
Grading Methods
• Grading methods may be classified into two types:
• Quality control procedures in which the quality of
the food is determined by laboratory tests on
samples drawn statistically from a batch of food.
• Procedures in which the total quantity of food is
subjected to physical separation in quality
categories. This grading may be carried out
manually or by specialized machines.
 GRADING OF FOODS
Grading Methods
• For proper grading, the food unit must be
presented singly before the human grader or
machine for assessment.
• These devices may be roller or vibratory tables or
rotating wheels equipped peripherally with
pneumatic devices which pick up food pieces,
rotate them for viewing and then release them at a
given signal.
 GRADING OF FOODS
Grading Methods
• Manual grading is done by trained operators who
are able to assess a number of grading parameters
simultaneously. For example, eggs are graded
manually by candling.
 GRADING OF FOODS
Grading Methods
• Machine grading is only feasible where quality of a food is linked to a single
physical property, and hence a sorting operation leads to different grades of
material.
• But can be carried out by combining a group of sorting operations so as to
separate the food units on quill it basis.
• Thus wheat of a particular variety may be graded by a combination of cleaning
and sorting operations.
• Sometimes a single property may be helpful in grading the food.
• Thus peas of small size are recognized to be most tender and of highest quality
so that size sorting of cleaned peas results in quality grading.
• Peas may also be graded on the basis of their density using flotation in brines
of varying densities.
• Similarly, potatoes or high density, desirable for manufacturing French fries,
potato crisps and dehydrated mashed potato, may be graded using Rotation in
brines.
• Mechanical grading is cost effective and efficient.
 Next Lecture
Size Reduction
• Crushing efficiency
• Size reduction equipment
• Size reduction of fibrous, dry and liquid foods
• effects of size reduction on sensory characteristics
and nutritive value of food
Any Question?