Processing of Chili
Cutting and fine milling of chili.
Chili is one of the most used spices in the food industry. It is a cultured sort of Capsicum annum, the common bell pepper, and finds applications as a colour- and taste-giving ingredient. It exists in over 200 different varieties which can be distinguished by their hotness, depending on the content of the alkaloid capsaicin. Having its roots in South-America, the chili is today cultivated in many countries. The annual increase of the import rate of dried chili peppers to Europe shows the rising demand for foreign spices in the western countries. Experts say, the spice market will reach US$36 billion in 2022.
Chili processing at Hosokawa Alpine
The product portfolio of chili reaches from whole and flaked chili to ultra-fine powders. After it is harvested, cleaned and dried, the chili peppers are cutting and milled for further processing in various applications like seasonings, ready meals and snacks. The Hosokawa Alpine AG offers decades of experience in spice grinding in the food industry. The worldwide installed basis represents the conviction and trust in the ALPINE know-how in this area. ALPINE Rotoplex cutting mill in assembly
The cutting of the chili pepper is an important pre-step in the milling process. The relation of fibres and fruit pulp define the fibrous characteristics of the fruit and make it hard to mill. But with a pre-cutting step, easier milling with less wear of the equipment is possible. For chili flakes, the ALPINE Rotoplex granulator is a well-known proven system to cut the whole husks. The input material enters in the mill, is hit by the rotating cutting blades and crushed to uniform particles with a fineness < 2mm. The precise product size can be adjusted by the perforation size in the product outlet. The robust and compact design guarantees a long lifetime and low dust formation.
In the fine milling of chili flakes, the abrasive characteristics of the fibrous stems and the number of kernels must be considered to guarantee a long lifetime of the machines and a profitable investment. It is very important to choose the right mill and milling equipment in special steel hardness for the most efficient process. In this case, the ALPINE Fine Impact Mill UPZ with a plate beater grinding track represents an efficient way for the fine milling of chili flakes to a uniform powder with low wear and sharp top cut.
The easily interchangeable milling elements of the ALPINE UPZ enable fast product changes and adaption to changing market and customer requirements. Various machine sizes allow small to high throughputs.Because of its fineness down to 500µm, chili powders are high explosive materials on ex-level 1. For a safe production without risk for personal and plant, ALPINE offers their machines conform to ATEX regulations. The explosion protected machines can be up to 10 bars pressure shock resistant and are tested in the own test bench at Hosokawa ALPINE AG in Augsburg. Corporations with leading manufacturers in explosion protection equipment guarantee best know-how and long lifetime in this area. As the mentioned mills were designed exclusively for the food and feed industry, they also meet all basic safety regulations of EC Machine Directive.To find the best possible system design, Hosokawa ALPINE machines are developed together with their customers in our application test center in Augsburg. The possibilities reach from laboratory to production-sized trials, as well as cryogenic grinding, sifting and fast particle size analysis with high-tech measuring, testing and analysis devices. Thanks to comprehensive tests, the biggest known chili milling systems in the world were designed and installed by Hosokawa ALPINE.
credit to: Hosokawa Alpine AG
