Ketchup is one of the most basic products that are consumed on a daily basis. It is not only the most used, but is also loved by almost every consumer, irrespective of their age. It has made its place in homes, restaurants, canteens and street foods etc. Urban and semi-urban markets have now become popular users of Ketchup.  However, the fruit comes with its own advantages and disadvantages. Tomato is a perishable product and cannot be kept in its natural form for too long. Nevertheless, the advantage is that ketchup has a shelf life of 11-12 months.

Demand for tomato ketchup

Tomato is a warm climatic vegetable which is rich in vitamin A & C besides lycopene & potassium. Tomatoes and tomato products are considered to be a healthy food because of its low fat content & calories. They are free of cholesterol & a good source of fibre and protein. As the demand for ketchup is increasing by the day, there is a huge demand for it in the market too.  Due to this, the local manufacturers have also made their way to enter into the business.  The standard manufacturer is no longer the sole player in the fruit pulp processing. This is the reason for the various differences in the quality of ketchup in the market today.

Manufacturing methods

They are myriads of ways involved in the preparation of ketchup these days. Most of the ketchups are starchy and have an artificial base. Very few manufacturers are involved in the production of pure tomato puree based ketchup i.e. the one without starch. The quality of Ketchup can be determined by its texture, colour and taste. Tomato Juice is an intermediate product in processing of tomato paste.  For getting tomato juice, the tomatoes are broken and the seeds & skin are removed, followed by deaeration, homogenisation & aseptic processing.

The tomato paste is the refined tomato pulp that is concentrated at 30-32° Brix. It acts as a base material for sauces & ketchup. For the making of paste, the tomato pulp is deaerated to remove dissolved oxygen. It is then homogenised to increase its viscosity by reducing the separation of serum & heating & water evaporation of juice in an evaporator to get the final product concentration having 32 %, followed by aseptic processing and filling for long life of the product.

Processes involved in the production of Ketchup

Sauce is made with different vegetables, spices & vinegar. This product can be made from fresh tomatoes or from tomato paste.  The various processes that are involved in the production of ketchup are as follows:

Washing – The initial phase is to clean the tomatoes and remove the dirt before processing.

Sorting – This involves the sorting of good tomatoes from the bad ones. This is done to maintain the good quality of the tomatoes in the processing.

Blanching/Hot Breaking – In this process the tomato is heated in hot water and then cooled. This loosens the skin of tomato and makes it easy to remove and transfer the inner mass into the pulper.

Pulper – This process involves crushing the tomato to extract the pulp out of it.

Pre heating – In this stage, the starch, vinegar and sugar is added to the pulp and heated at 80 degree Celsius.

Homogenising – This helps in reducing the particle size and increases the consistency of the product.

Buffer tank – This is used in order to collect the homogenised product.

SSHE– This is the acronym for Scrap Surface Heat Exchanger. It helps in the sterilisation and concentration of the product to make it thicker and give it the texture of ketchup.

Buffer tank – The final product is stored and then sent for filling with the help of the buffer tank.

What we provide

Goma Engineering, Mumbai offers complete fruit pulp processing and beverage processing plants that guarantee perfection in all the stages of the production. We offer complete tomato processing plants including those for tomato canning, tomato puree, paste, sauces & ketchup processing.

Our processing Equipment includes Sorter & grader, high efficiency washer, blancher, pulper, UHT steriliser for tomato juice. For tomato puree our equipment includes kettle/vacuum pan for smaller capacity & the multi effect evaporator for medium & large capacity plants, besides vacuum DE aerator, homogeniser & UHT Steriliser. For tomato sauces & ketchup our equipment includes kettle/ vacuum pans, DE aerator, SSHE & Filling machines.

We provide a solution for manufacturing of tomatoes & tomato based products from smaller capacity (Lab/ R & D Model) to commercial production of 10000 LPH.

The post Technological expertise used in the making of the best Tomato Ketchup appeared first on Goma Engineering.