LIME JUICE CLEAR
CORDIAL
Production
This Technical Brief describes a manufacturing system capable of producing up to 250 bottles
(26oz each) of lime juice cordial per day using simple, comparatively low-cost equipment.
Lime juice cordial is a crystal clear product, normally sweetened with sugar, which is diluted to
taste on serving. The product is preserved with sulphur dioxide (SO2) which also protects it
against colour changes with time. The essential manufacturing steps involved are as follows:
Wash limes
|
Crush the limes
|
Rack the juice
|
Clarified juice
|
Mix clarified juice with
hot sugar & syrup
(pasteurisation takes place during the mixing stage)
|
Bottle & cap
|
Cool
|
Label
Lime juice is very acidic and it is important that workers are provided with protective gloves to
avoid damage to the hands. Only inert materials can be used to process lime juice as it will
rapidly corrode steel. Stainless steel, plastic, glass and wood are recommended.
At small-scale, simple hand-squeezers
can be used to extract juice but the
yields obtained will be a lower than
those obtained from the heavy stone
roller-crushers or screw-presses used in
large plants. A small-scale wooden
roller press was developed and used
with success in Sri Lanka. This press
(shown diagrammatically in Figure 1)
consists of a hopper that feeds lime
fruits that have previously been cut in
half, between two rotating hard wood
rollers. The rollers are grooved along
their
Halved
fruit
Hopper
Figure 1: A wooden roller
press
Illustration: Neil Noble / Practical
Action
Grooved rollers of
unequal size. Made
from hard wood.
Sieve
Juice tank
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