Apple Processing Line | Apple Juice, Puree & Concentrate
EasyReal apple processing line starts from bulk apple receiving and ends with finished packs ready for export. The line includes receiving hopper and water flume, apple washing and brushing machine, roller sorting conveyor,vc color protection system, apple hammer crusher, juice belt press or screw press,horizontal decanter , filtration skid and disc separator, falling-film evaporator, tubular or plate UHT or pasteurizer. Apple puree hot-break and pulper, cider fermentation-ready juice steps, and aseptic bag-in-drum or consumer packaging. Each module is designed around typical apple features such as firm texture, moderate acidity and rich pectin content. The design helps your team reach high yield while keeping a fresh and bright taste.
The core process first turns apples into either crushed mash or hot-broken pulp. For juice products, the line moves the mash to the apple belt press to extract cloud or clear juice. For clear juice and apple juice concentrate, the juice passes enzyme tanks, separation and ultrafiltration before gentle concentration in the apple juice falling-film evaporator. For puree, the hot-break preheater softens the tissue, and the apple pulper with fine screens removes seeds and peel while making a smooth texture. The same front-end can also feed a cider branch, where clarified apple must moves to fermentation tanks. All sections connect with sanitary piping, automatic valves and CIP circuits, so the whole plant stays clean and ready to run long campaigns during the apple season.
EasyReal apple juice processing line serves juice and beverage factories that supply retail chains and private label brands. These customers use the line to produce clear apple juice from concentrate, NFC cloudy apple juice, and mixed fruit drinks where apple gives body and natural sweetness. The same factory can ship bulk apple juice concentrate to other regions while also filling local consumer packs. This flexibility helps you balance export orders and domestic market demand in one plant.
Apple puree modules support baby food producers, bakery and dairy ingredient suppliers. Smooth apple puree works as a natural base for infant food, fruit yogurts, bakery fillings and smoothie packs. Many factories now replace part of refined sugar with apple-based ingredients. The line helps you answer this clean-label trend with stable and safe apple puree.
For alcoholic drinks, the line can prepare clarified apple juice as a cider base. Breweries and cider houses can ferment this base into hard cider, apple wine or fruit-blended drinks. EasyReal designs the juice pre-treatment to fit typical brewery equipment, so cider projects can grow on top of existing beer capacity.
Dried apple product options help snack companies and cereal makers. The line can feed a downstream slicing and hot air drying or freeze-drying system. This gives you apple chips, rings or dices that keep fiber and many healthy compounds while offering long shelf life. With one flexible apple processing plant, fruit companies, cooperatives and juice brands can run multiple product lines, extend the apple season and reduce the risk of relying on only one single product.
You can choose the right apple processing line by thinking about three main points. These are target end products, required capacity and packaging method. First, define your product mix. If your key goal is apple juice concentrate and clear juice, then the line should focus on high-capacity belt pressing, enzyme treatment, ultrafiltration and a large falling-film evaporator. If your main products are NFC cloudy juice and cider base, you need more gentle clarification and strong cold storage instead of very deep filtration. If you want to lead in baby food and bakery ingredients, the apple puree hot-break and pulping branch becomes the central module.
Second, match capacity with your orchard and supply model. A start-up producer or a cooperative can choose a 1–5 tons per hour apple line with simple CIP and one evaporation body. This solution gives a low entry cost but keeps room to grow. A regional juice brand often moves to a 10–20 tons per hour line with double pressing and multi-effect evaporation. Large processors close to big orchards may require 30 tons per hour or more and full automation with tank farms. EasyReal designs each configuration so you can add extra evaporator effects, extra pulper or an extra aseptic filler later. The design can grow with your business.
Third, consider packaging. If you ship bulk juice and concentrate, focus on 200-liter aseptic bag-in-drum and one-ton aseptic totes. If you serve retail markets, integrate glass or PET bottle filling or carton packs. EasyReal helps you build a clear route from raw apple to the exact package your buyers expect.
A typical EasyReal apple processing flow starts with fruit receiving. Trucks unload apples into the receiving hopper and water flume, which gently moves fruit to the apple air-blowing washing and brush washing machines. The washer removes soil, pesticide residues and surface microbes while using recycled process water where possible. Clean apples then travel over the roller sorting conveyor where workers or cameras remove rotten or damaged fruit. This step protects flavor and reduces waste later in the process.
Next,under the protection of the VC color protection system, the line sends good apples to the apple hammer crusher. The crusher breaks fruit into uniform mash that feeds either the apple belt press or hot-break system. For juice, the mash falls onto the apple belt press, which squeezes juice out and discharges pomace. The juice can follow two paths. For NFC cloudy juice and cider, the juice goes through coarse filtration, cooling, deaeration and plate pasteurizer. It then moves to aseptic filling or to cold storage tanks and fermentation tanks for cider projects. For clear juice and concentrate, the juice first passes enzyme tanks, horizontal decanter, fine filtration and disc separator , then into the falling-film evaporator to reach target Brix.
For apple puree, part of the crushed fruit goes to the hot-break tubular preheater instead of the belt press. The hot-break section heats fruit quickly to kill enzymes and fix color. The apple pulper refiner then removes seeds and skin and produces smooth puree. The puree passes deaerator, tubular pasteurizer and aseptic filler. If you add dried apple products, the line sends selected apples to peeling, coring, slicing, anti-browning dipping and then to tray or belt dryers. At each step, EasyReal uses sanitary pumps, valves and in-line sensors so you can see flow, temperature and Brix at key points and keep full control over quality.
1. Apple Receiving Hopper and Water Flume
The apple receiving hopper and water flume take care of the very first contact between fruit and factory. The hopper accepts apples from trucks or bins and feeds them into a gentle water channel. The water flume moves apples without strong mechanical impact, so you avoid bruising and hidden damage. The system includes coarse trash screens that stop stones, leaves and foreign bodies before they enter the process. Operators can adjust water flow speed to match different unloading rates. Compared with dry elevators, the water flume offers softer handling and helps pre-wash dust and soil. EasyReal designs the hopper and flume in stainless steel with smooth surfaces and easy access covers. This design makes cleaning fast and supports strict hygiene during the busy apple season.
2. Apple Washing and Sorting Line
The apple washing and sorting line cleans and upgrades raw fruit quality before any cutting or crushing. The apple washer combines bubble washing, spray bars and rotating brushes to remove field dirt and chemical residues. Water flows in a counter-current pattern to use less fresh water while keeping good cleaning strength. After washing, apples climb a dewatering elevator and pass under final spray rinses. The roller conveyor then spreads apples in a single layer and turns them slowly. This motion lets workers or cameras see all sides of each fruit. Reject chutes collect bad apples without stopping the line.
EasyReal designs the apple washer and sorting line with adjustable speeds, so you can match it to your belt press or crusher capacity. Enclosed side panels help keep water inside and reduce splashing and noise. Compared with simple tank washers, EasyReal lines give more stable cleaning results and lower water use. Optional automatic optical sorting upgrades the system further for large factories. This helps you keep only sound fruit in the flow and protect flavor and color in the final product.
3. Apple Crusher and Milling System
The apple crusher and milling system prepares fruit for efficient juice extraction and puree production. The crusher uses stainless steel blades or toothed rollers to break apples into controlled pieces. The design avoids over-grinding seeds, which can release bitter taste. After the first break, a hammer mill or toothed disc mill can refine the mash to the right particle size for belt pressing or pulping. EasyReal supplies different rotor types and screen sizes so you can tune the system to each apple variety and product type.
The closed housing and top infeed minimize air contact and reduce oxidation. Maintenance doors open wide to make knife inspection and change easy. Compared with basic fruit cutters, the EasyReal apple crusher gives more uniform mash, which leads to higher juice yield and more stable puree texture. The system can handle fresh apples, cold-stored apples and mixed grades that often come from packing houses. Stable mash quality helps the rest of the line run smoothly, from enzyme treatment to pressing and hot-break.
4. Apple Belt Press Juice Extractor
The apple belt press is the heart of the apple juice processing line. It spreads apple mash on a food-grade belt and passes it through several pressing zones. Each zone uses rollers and controlled pressure to squeeze juice out while moving pomace forward. The open design allows operators to see the pressing process and check mash distribution. Automatic belt washing sprays keep the belt clean between cycles and maintain stable juice flow.
EasyReal designs the apple belt press for high yield and low energy use. The press can reach high extraction rates while keeping a moderate pomace moisture, which reduces waste. You can adjust belt speed, mash thickness and roller pressure from the central HMI. This helps you adapt quickly when fruit quality changes during the season. Compared with traditional rack and frame presses, the apple belt press offers continuous operation, less labor and simpler cleaning. Smooth stainless steel frames and CIP connections allow full clean-in-place cycles for hygiene. The machine fits both cloudy NFC juice and clear juice lines by working with different upstream and downstream modules.
5. Apple Juice Falling-Film Evaporator
The apple juice falling-film evaporator concentrates clear apple juice into high Brix apple juice concentrate. Juice enters the top of vertical tubes and flows down as a thin film while steam heats the outside. The gentle film and short residence time protect color and delicate apple aroma. Vacuum conditions lower the boiling point, so water boils off at a lower temperature. This reduces thermal damage and helps keep healthy compounds in better shape. Multi-effect design reuses steam energy from one body to the next, which cuts steam consumption.
EasyReal sizes the evaporator according to your target capacity and season length. Automatic Brix control measures soluble solids in real time and adjusts feed flow or steam valves. This keeps the outlet concentrate close to set point and protects against over-concentration. The evaporator includes aroma recovery, which captures stripped flavor compounds and stores them as a separate fraction. You can dose these aromas back into concentrate or finished juice for a stronger natural taste. Smooth internal surfaces, CIP spray devices and good drainage make cleaning reliable. Compared with older pan evaporators, the EasyReal falling-film system delivers better energy use, more stable quality and shorter start-up times.
6. Apple Puree Tubular Sterilizer and Aseptic Filler
The apple puree tube-in-tube sterilizer heats viscous puree in multi-tube heat exchangers. The design gives strong heat transfer without clogging. Product flows inside smooth tubes while heating medium stays outside. The system raises puree to sterilization temperature, holds it for the right time in a holding tube, and then cools it to filling temperature. Automatic temperature and flow control make sure every drop reaches safe conditions. The tube-in-tube design handles high pulp content and even small fruit particles without damage.
Downstream, the apple aseptic filler fills sterile puree or juice into pre-sterilized bags, drums or totes. A closed sterile chamber, steam or chemical sterilization of product path and over-pressure sterile air protect the product from germs in the environment. Operators connect bags or drums while the system manages filling volume and records batch data. EasyReal offers fillers for 5–25 kilogram bags for ingredients and 200 kilogram bag-in-drum or larger totes for export. Compared with hot-fill in simple drums, the tubular sterilizer plus aseptic filler give longer shelf life, lower risk and better color retention. This combination is key for baby food and high-value ingredient markets.
EasyReal designs the apple processing line to work with many apple varieties and supply models. The line handles dessert apples, cider apples and industrial apples with different levels of sweetness, acidity and firmness. Adjustable crusher settings, belt press pressure and enzyme dosage help you get stable yield even when fruit quality changes during the season. The process flow also suits fresh apples from harvest, cold-stored apples from controlled-atmosphere warehouses and mixed grades from packing centers. This flexibility protects your factory from crop variation and helps you buy apples at better prices when markets move.
On the output side, the same base line can support several end products. Clear juice and apple juice concentrate use the full clarification and falling-film evaporation route. Cloudy NFC juice and cider base use gentle clarification and strong cooling capacity without deep filtration. Apple puree products use hot-break and pulping instead of pressing, then follow deaeration and tubular sterilization. Dried apple projects add peeling, slicing and drying modules after sorting. Operators can switch recipes from juice to puree or from export concentrate to local NFC juice with HMI recipe control and valve matrix routing.
Apples bring natural fiber, vitamin C and many healthy compounds such as polyphenols. The EasyReal line uses quick heating, short residence times and low oxygen pick-up to protect these nutrients as far as possible. Gentle pumping and optimized deaeration reduce damage from air and preserve fresh flavor. As a result, you can produce safe, shelf-stable products that still feel close to fresh apples in taste and perceived health value.
EasyReal builds the apple processing line control system around Siemens PLC and industrial HMI screens. The PLC reads sensors across the whole line and sends commands to pumps, valves and drives. Operators see live values for temperature, flow, Brix, pressure and vacuum on clear process graphics. One look at the screen shows where apples and juice move and which tanks stay in CIP mode. Recipe management stores different sets of parameters for NFC cloudy juice, clear juice, concentrate, puree and cider base. Staff can select a recipe and let the control logic set target temperatures, holding times, belt speeds and evaporator Brix for the chosen product. This avoids guesswork and keeps every batch close to specification.
The apple juice line automation system also supervises safety and cleanliness. Flow diversion valves send under-heated juice back to balance tanks. CIP sequences run automatically for crusher, belt press, enzyme tanks, evaporator, pasteurizer and aseptic filler. The PLC logs critical data such as sterilization temperatures, CIP concentration and batch start and stop times. The SCADA interface can connect to your factory network to export reports, trend charts and alarms. Managers see energy and water use per ton of apples and can optimize production windows. Remote access, if you choose to enable it, allows EasyReal engineers to support your team with diagnostics and software fine-tuning. The modular structure means you can start with basic HMI control and later add full SCADA, OEE dashboards and integration with ERP or MES systems as your factory grows.
You can treat the EasyReal apple processing line as a long-term partner for your fruit business. The line gives you one integrated solution from raw apples to finished juice, concentrate, puree, cider base and dried apple ingredients. You can start as an orchard owner who wants to move up the value chain, or as a beverage brand that needs reliable industrial supply. EasyReal supports you from the first idea until stable production. Engineers study your orchards, target markets and end products and then design a line that balances capacity, energy use, manpower and future growth. The team prepares process flow diagrams, layout drawings and utility lists so you see clearly what the project includes before you invest.
When you decide to go ahead, EasyReal builds and tests key modules such as the apple washer, apple crusher, apple belt press, apple juice falling-film evaporator and apple pureetube-in-tube sterilizer in its own workshop. Factory Acceptance Tests help your team check functions and agree on final settings. After shipment, EasyReal sends supervisors to guide installation, commissioning and trial runs in your plant. Technicians train operators on HMI use, safety routines, CIP operation and basic maintenance. Once the apple processing plant starts stable daily runs, EasyReal continues to support you with spare parts, remote help and process optimization advice. The company already serves customers in more than thirty countries and brings over twenty-five years of experience in fruit and vegetable processing.
You only need to share your planned capacity, main end products and packaging formats. EasyReal will propose a clear line configuration and investment range. If you still compare options, you can first run pilot tests on EasyReal’s lab and pilot-scale UHT, pasteurization and aseptic filling lines. These tests help you confirm recipes, shelf-life and process windows before you build the full plant. When you are ready to move, EasyReal is ready to design and supply a high-quality, cost-effective apple processing line that can grow with your business for many seasons.
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