INTEGRATED PRE & POST PACKAGING FOR SPICES

INTEGRATED PRE & POST PACKAGING FOR SPICES Various food manufacturing industries need customized solutions for raw product processing, packaging & secondary conveying system. Basic processing lines require product handling systems, product cleaning & grading system, grinding or pulverizing, blending, etc.

Spices play an important role in enhancing the flavor and taste of processed foods. On account of their ability to impart flavor and aroma, spices have been used in the preparation of a wide variety of processed foods. Spices are required in preparing appetizing beverages and confectionary, soup powders, sauces, instant curries, canned meat and poultry products, etc.

Spices are also used in medicines because of their carminative, stimulating and digestive properties. Considering the potential market opportunity of such units, Nichrome has developed end to end packaging solutions for the spice industry.

PROCESS DETAILS: The key products of Spice sector are Turmeric, chilly, coriander & Cumin. Normally the process flow for primary processing line is as below: (i) Washing: First of all, the spices are washed with water under high pressure to remove impurities. (ii) Peeling & cutting to small pieces: Some spices require peeling and cutting to small pieces. Such spices are peeled with hand knives. After peeling, cut spices are conveyed till dryer.

(iii) Drying: Spices are spread on the floor for sun drying. At times, mechanical dryers are also used. Tray type dryer is most suitable for such product. (iv) Grinding/ Pulverizing: Spices are ground in dry form. The basic principle is straightforward.

A hammer mill is essentially a steel drum containing a vertical or horizontal rotating shaft or drum on which hammers are mounted. The hammers are free to swing on the ends of the cross, or fixed to the central rotor. The rotor is spun at a high speed inside the drum while material is fed into a feed hopper. The material is impacted by the hammer bars and is thereby shredded and expelled through screens in the drum of a selected size. (v) Screening / Grading – After grinding, the powder is transferred to vibro screener for grading of the ground product. Here, bigger size particles are separated from original product. After screening, the product is conveyed for mixing process. (vi) Mixing: After all the above operations, various spices for different purposes are mixed together in a ribbon blender. For proper mixing, the blender runs in cyclic mode. A typical mix cycle usually takes no longer than 15 minutes and, with the ribbon agitator continuing to run, the discharge step is also completed quickly. It is a straightforward process which a basic Ribbon Blender can easily handle provided it is sized for the right bulk density. After blending, the powder is conveyed by screw conveyor till further equipment. (vii) Packaging: At the end, spices powder is packaged in automatic form fill and sealing machine using a vertical form fill seal (VFFS) machine filler. Normally, powdery products are filled by servo driven auger filler to achieve accuracy & speed. Printed film roll is mounted at the back of the VFFS machine. After that, pouch formation, product filling & sealing are completed through PLC based programs.

Normally heat sealable laminated film is used for packing. Date batch coding facility is also provided on machine with various types of printer range.

(viii) Territory Packaging: For distribution purpose, retail packs are again packed in cartons or gunny bags.

Normally, manually or in automatic mode, bundle / liner from LDPE or low thickness pouch as per the customer’s SKU range, are made. This pouch or liner is sealed with the help of band sealer or in an automatic machine. After that, the bundle / liner is repacked in territory gunny bag for further distribution.

Cartoning line – another method of secondary packing line is cartoning line. In this method, primary pouches are manually kept in cartons as per customized matrix. After that, the carton is conveyed through power roller conveyor till cart tapping staring machine. This machine folds carton flaps & sticks adhesive tape automatically on closed flaps. Before taping, the carton checkweigher is also used to cross-check carton weight or missed out pouch quantity. After taping, the carton is conveyed for carton stripping.

This unit seals the carton with metal strips. In the last stage, carton wrapping is also done for final dispatch.

Nichrome, India's leading packaging machine manufacturer has built on decades of experience and knowhow to designing end-to-end packaging systems for spices. From individual spice pouch packaging machines and innovative filling systems to complete project design, Nichrome delivers innovation and quality that boosts productivity in food packaging.