No abstract

Fermented brine in citron curing was recycled successfully by centrifugation at 12,000 r/m of the used solution to remove suspended material, and then adding salt to the desired level of concentration. Eleven consecutive fermentations using the recycled brine produced good cured citron. Brine reusal in citron curing makes three important contributions to the citron curing industry: 1) It shortens fermentation time to about two days; 2) it can save about 78 percent of the salt used; 3) it eliminates the brine waste disposal problem.

Continuous and batch-type extractions of coconut oil were made from coconut milk press-cake. The effect of particle size, solvent flow, and temperature was studied with hexane as the solvent. Particle size was one of the most important factors affecting the efficiency of continuous extraction. Residual oil in experiments with milled press-cake was about 0.8% while it was about 8.0% with unmilled press-cake. Temperatures of 30°, 35°, and 45° C left a residue with 2.8, 1.3, and 1.0% oil, respectively. Batch-type extraction studies showed that a holding time (stirring) of 5 min, a ratio of 4:1 (ml solvent:g of press-cake), and a temperature of 25° C were the best conditions for this type of extraction.

A method was developed for cleaning and washing coffee harvested with plastic nets. The material collected was bulky due to large amounts of leaves. An air separator designed and constructed to separate foreign material from coffee beans and berries is described. It consists of a bladetype blower placed in a two-chamber tunnel. When the net-collected material is fed into the separator, the light components are separated in the upper chamber, while the heavier materials fall into the bottom chamber where a stronger air current separates most of the remaining foreign substances from the coffee. Separation of the material was more difficult when weather conditions were rainy or humid while the nets were on the ground. The separation was much easier when the material was collected during diy, windy weather. The capacity of the air separator for wet and sticky material was about 2 acres per 8-hour run; the capacity was about 4 acres per 8-hour run with dry material. The material obtained from the air separator consisted of coffee beans and berries, together with some extraneous matter. This material was fed into a horizontal washing machine where the remaining extraneous material was removed leaving the coffee ready for drying.

Studies conducted on the storage of coconut pulp showed this product can be stored frozen at -10° C without changes that impair the flavor of coconut milk prepared from it. The same study demonstrated that extraction of coconut milk from frozen coconut pulp yielded about 50% of that obtained from pulp at room temperature (25-28° C). The chemical composition of coconut milk extracted and press-cake residue was altered. Fat content in milk from frozen coconut pulp was about 2% of that extracted from pulp at room temperature. Press-cake obtained from frozen pulp contained 15% more fat than press-cake resulting from the standard practice.