Processing Guava pulp
Selection of fruit. Guava to be processed must be tree ripened if prime quality of of final product must be obtained. Only fully ripen fruits are selected for processing.
Sorting. Ripe guavas bruise easily and are highly perishable hence should be separated into grades which is done manually or mechanically to remove guavas that are unsuitable for processing due to mechanical injuries or other deformities. This reduces losses that could occur as secondary contamination during processing.
Washing. This is done to remove dirt and spray residues using water with chlorine and with plain water. Thorough washing is done using jet sprays to remove leftover dust.
Cutting. Fruits are cut into halves. De-stoning is done using a de-stoning machine or manually using a sharp sterilized knife.
Pulping. Guavas are put i a pulping machine to obtain pulp of uniform consistency.
Homogenization. The pulp must be homogenized to get a smooth creamy consistency. Sieved pulp is fed into a homogenization tank and allowed to run for a few minutes depending on batch size. Citric acid is added to maintain the pulp acidity. The TSS should be more then 30%.
Packaging and filling. Pulp is filled into containers in an aseptic condition to avoid contamination. They can packed in in glass bottles, metal containers, carton -based packages, bag- in- box and bag- in- drum.
Storage. Containers are filled with pulp and boxed, packed together and kept in well ventilated storage rooms away from sunlight, clean and free from pests.
some of the equipment required for processing include; fruit washer, fruit pulping machine, homogenizer, packaging machine.