Tomato handling

1. Tomato production, processing and technology, Third edition, 1992, W A Gould, Woodhead Publishing Limited • Tomato harvesting, systems and methods - The harvester - Operation of harvester - When to harvest - Importance of sorting - Mechanical harvesting problems - Cost of mechanical harvesting 1

2. Tomato handling • - Hampers - Field boxes - Plastic boxes - Bulk containers - Water tanks - Bulk trailers 2

3. Tomato grading •  - History and development of grades - Sampling - Inspectors and inspections - Grading platforms - Grade standards - Extraneous material - Definitions - Grade determination by color - Agtron color management - Hunter color measurement - Firmness 3

4. Preparation of tomatoes for processing • - Dry sort - Size grading - Washing - Final sorting and trimming - Coring - Peeling - Steam peeling - Lye peeling - Infrared peeling - Other peeling methods - Inspection 4

5. PART 2 :PROCESSING:Canning tomatoes •  - Filling - Salting and firming - Exhausting - Process time and temperature - Cooling - Acidification - Other tomato products 5

6. Tomato juice manufacture • - Preparation for processing - Crushing or chopping - Extraction - Deterioration - Acidification - Salting and filling - Containers - Homogenization - Thermal processing - Tomato juice from concentrate - New products 6

7. Tomato pulp and paste manufacture •  - Definition - Manufacture of tomato pulp - Determination of total solids - Tomato paste - Filling - Bulk storage 7

8. Tomato catsup and chili sauce manufacture •  - Tomato catsup - Manufacturing tomato catsup - Pulping - Constituents of catsup - Formula - Cooking - Milling - Filling and sterilization - Cooling - Quality control of catsup - Chili sauce 8

9. Tomato soup • Formulation - Procedure - Cooking 9

10. Tomato wastes 10

11. PART 3 TECHNOLOGY:Quality assurance •  - Definition of quality - Standards for quality - Legal standards - Company or voluntary label standards - Grade/industrial/consumer standards - Methods for determining quality - Purposes of QA program - Bases of QA program - Standards and specifications - The laboratory - Reports - Interpretation - Definition of terms used in statistical QC 11

12. Quality control •  - Problem solving techniques - Brainstorming principles - Pareto principles - Cause and effect diagram. 12

13. Quality evaluation of processed tomatoes and tomato products •  - Determination of the standard of fill of container - Procedure A - General method for water capacity of containers - Procedure B - General method for fill of containers - Procedure C - Percentage of the total capacity of the can 13

14. Color and color measurement •  - Factors contributing to tomato color - Color perception - Light and lighting - Systems of color measurement 14

15. Tomato solids •  - Composition of the tomato - Total solids - Degree brix/soluble solids - Water soluble solids - Alcohol insoluble solids - Blotter test - Precipitate weight ratio - Serum separation - Specific gravity - Refractive index 15

16. Consistency (viscosity) of tomato products •  - Classification - Measurements - Tomato juice - Catsup - Continuous measurement of catsup - Tomato paste - Tomato pulp - Tomato soup - Factors affecting consistency in tomato products • Total acidity and pH - pH Determination 16

17. Defects and material other than tomatoes •  - MOT and other material - Sand and inorganic residues - Dark specks, seeds, pieces of seeds - Peel, hard core material - Defects in catsup 17

18. Flavor and flavor evaluation •  - Judging - For each judge - For each treatment - All treatments/all judges 18

19. Drosophila and insect control •  - Life cycle habits and other functions - Drosophila control before and during harvesting - Drosophila control at the plant and during processing - Methods of detection - GOSUL method - AOAC method - Staining method - Determination of insect fragments in tomato products - Summary 19

20. Mold–counting methods and principles •  - The microscope - Histology of the tomato - Parts of the tomato - Types of mold - Characteristics of mold hyphae - Filaments often confused with mold - Howard mold count method of tomato products - Characteristics of mold - Genera of molds frequently encountered - AOAC mold count procedure - Regulatory action guidance 20

21. Spoilage of canned tomatoes and tomato products •  - Flat sour spoilage - Characteristics of flat-sour spoilage in tomato juice - Heat resistance of spores - Causes of flat-sour spoilage - Controlling flat-sour spoilage - Water activity - Spoilage of canned tomatoes - Spoilage of catsup 21

22. Composition of tomatoes •  - Solids - Carbohydrates - Proteins and amino acids - Acids - Minerals - Pectin in tomatoes - Nutrient composition of tomatos and tomato products - Factors affecting the nutrient composition of fresh tomatoes - Factors affecting retention of nutrients in tomato products - Retention of vitamins during storage - Tomato flavor 22

23. Tomato Processing Industry • On a global scale, the annual production of fresh tomatoes accounts for approximately 100 million tonnes. • In comparison, 3 times more potatoes and 6 times more rice are grown around the world (FAO, 2002). • However, more than a quarter of those 100 million tonnes are grown for the processing industry, which makes tomatoes the world’s leading vegetable for processing.. 23

24. More than 27 million tonnes of tomatoes are processed every year in factories belonging to the greatest labels of the global food industry. • The main production regions are located in temperate zones, close to the 40th parallels North and South. • However, most of this production is based in the Northern hemisphere, where an average of 91 % of the world’s crop is processed between the months of July and December. 24

25. The remaining 9 % are processed in the Southern hemisphere between January and June. • Brazil is an exception, being the only country of the Southern hemisphere to process more than one million tonnes per year at the same time as the Northern hemisphere • Despite the fact that many countries have a tomato processing industry, this production is strongly concentrated and the 8 largest producing countries account for some 84 % of the world’s yearly production. 25

26. Average figures for these countries between 1999 and 2003 were: • California (9.33 million metric tonnes) • Italy (4.87 million tonnes) • China (1.74 million tonnes) • Spain (1.52 million tonnes) • Turkey (1.5 million tonnes) • Brazil (1.17 million tonnes) • Greece (1.01 million tonnes) • Portugal (950 000 tonnes) 26

27. In commercial terms, exchange volumes and commercial results also position the tomato processing sector among the main players of the global food industry. • It can be said that in the 1999/2000 financial year, the four main production and exchange regions (the EU, China, the USA and Chile) exported approximately 1.1 million tonnes of finished products in the two leading tomato categories : paste and whole peeled tomatoes. 27

28. Paste is the main tomato product, both in production volume and in commercial results : annual exports of tomato paste generate more than USD 510 million (EUR 500 million). • The undeniable importance of the tomato producing industry is also rooted in the regular growth in consumption observed over the past twenty years. • Mainly a trait of nations with a high standard of living, the highest overall consumptions of tomato products are found in Europe with 19 kg per year and in the USA with 30 kg per year. 28

29. Results from other countries (23 kg per capita per year in Canada) confirm the importance of the role played by tomato products in the eating habits of a wide variety of countries. • Throughout these areas, the increase in tomato consumption has been steady for several years, albeit at different rates. • This has led to the appearance of new producing countries on the market. 29

30. Some of them, like China, have dedicated heavy capital investment to this branch of the food industry. • In only a few years, they have became able to threaten the dominant position of the two main producers, the USA and Italy. 30

31. Organisation • The international tomato processing industry is organised around two main professional federations that together account for about 91 % of the world’s production : the AMITOM and the WPTC. • In the Mediterranean region, the industry is organised within the AMITOM • The AMITOM is an association gathering professional organisations of tomato processors in the Mediterranean region. 31

32. For the last twenty years, this international association has been collecting and storing technical and economic data and information on processing tomatoes, from research to final sale. • To that effect, the AMITOM works in a variety of areas, and regular meetings bring together delegations from the member states, making up the executive committee. 32

33. The AMITOM currently includes eleven member states – 5 European Union countries: France, Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain, 6 non-EU countries: Algeria, Occupied Palestine, Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia, Turkey, and three associate members: Malta, Syria and the United Arab Emirates. • For more information on the AMITOM, visit the web site www.amitom.com 33

34. The World Processing Tomato Council (WPTC) was created in 1998. • It gathers professional growers and/or processors’ organisations representing their respective production areas. • Professional organisations from the following countries were the founding members of the Council: AMITOM countries, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, USA (California). • They have since been joined up by Algeria, Jordan and more recently by Morocco, as well as Japan and South Africa. • Brazil is no longer a member of the WPTC. For more information on the WPTC, visit the web site www.wptc.to  34

35. The following table summarizes the world’s processing tomato production over 3 years. 35

36. Opportunities for tomato processing • As EU agricultural production subsidies are expected to be entirely phased out by 2013, opportunities for local production and processing may arise for African producers of fruit and vegetable products, which were previously subsidised in the EU. • In this regard tomato may be the product with the most potential, especially as it is a most commonly-used ingredient in African cooking and the continent has a tradition of tomato processing. 36

37. According to the World Processing Tomato Council, an international non-profit-making organisation for the tomato processing industry, the world processed an average of 33m tons per year of tomatoes in the three years ended 2006; • SA (157,000t) and Senegal (70,000t) were the only sub-Saharan African countries which processed more than 15,000t/year in that period. • This was not always the situation. In the early 1970s Senegal promoted the farming of tomatoes and erected processing plants to establish an industry that made Senegal the 23rd largest processor in the world. 37

38. A study in 2007 revealed that Senegal's processing had dropped from 73,000t of concentrate in 1990 to 20,000t in 1996/7, while the EU's exports of tomato concentrate to Senegal increased from 62t in 1994 to 5,348t in 1996. • Senegalese processors apparently eventually found it was cheaper to buy and dilute Italian paste than purchase tomatoes from local farmers. • For similar reasons, Ghana closed a processing plant that was producing around 100t/day of paste. Ghana is now the largest importer of paste in Africa - it imports 10,000t/year, while the farmers, established to supply the processor, continue to produce a glut, resulting in very low prices for sales to households. 38

39. This situation is not unique to Senegal and Ghana, nor to tomatoes. Therefore the new lack of the EU subsidies may offer opportunities. • The key is to produce products which will have shelf life and a market, at a cost that is not inflated by investment in infrastructure and capacity that is under-utilised, while still allowing the existing small farmers to make a return on their investment in production. • For the industrial market, tomato paste is the most important ingredient because it is used as the basis for a wide range of other products such as ketchups, sauces, soups, salsas, tinned meat and fish, etc. 39

40. The process • The tomato is washed, sorted and prepared by crushing, peeling or cutting to the required size. • Depending on the particular requirements, the prepared tomato then undergoes all/some of the following: • heating, • refining, • pulping, • reconditioning, • evaporation, • pasteurization and • packing. 40

41. One of the largest constraints of processing (leading to underutilization of infrastructure) is short harvest periods, which vary from 60 to 100 days. • In Pakistan, projects have focused on processing other fruits during the periods when tomatoes are not available. 41

42. Constraints on processing cheaply in Africa are the lack of automation in farming, which increases input costs, and the lack of access to capital and qualified technical staff. • Also, the farming sector has generally suffered from the failure in processing, which has meant farmers are unorganized and possibly suspicious. • This tends to reduce the assured supply of tomatoes to the processor - until trust can be built again. 42

43. Equipment range • Production of concentrated tomato products can be carried out at a range of scales - from small scale (kilograms per hour) to large industrial operations (200-300t/hour) in which both the unit energy consumption and damage to the tomato are vastly reduced. • In the smallest plants, prepared (hand-sorted, washed, peeled and separated) tomato pulps are boiled in open pans over a fire to achieve the required final concentration (44% pulp - 40% puree - 34% concentrated juice, 17-19% juice and 10-12% juice). 43

44. At this level the concentration process constrains the product both because of the large cost of energy and the damage to the tomato by uncontrolled heating, which results in darker and duller pastes, often with a stronger cooked taste. • In the largest plants, pulp is prepared via mechanical processes, then vacuum-evaporated; • this reduces both the energy required by using evaporated water as heating steam by subjecting the pulp to a lower temperature for a shorter time, which also results in the retention of the traditional bright red colour and a fresher taste. • But there are intermediate processes that can be used: 44

45. The degree of darkening can be reduced by using steam heating of the pulp in jacketed cooking vessels. • However, there is no system to gain the advantages of vacuum evaporation on a small scale. • A filtration process was developed in Bangladesh, which produces products that match the colour of commercial pastes. • However, only purees can be produced and salt needs to be added to increase the concentration. Gratis Foundation of Ghana has installed one of these plants in Techiman. 45

46. Smaller-scale plants have been developed. For example, a Pakistani company produces a plant with capacity to process 2t/hour of tomato. This plant is based on a single-effect, high-vacuum, scraped surface heat exchanger. • A 2003 feasibility study determined a total cost (equipment, land, buildings and installation) for this of around $1.5m - for a capacity to produce 750t/year and 1,900t/year of tomato paste and fruit pulp respectively. • A Chinese plant with a capacity to process 5t/hour of tomato, made by Shanghai Triowin Tech, offers a two-stage, low-vacuum thin film evaporator. 46

47. In South Africa ... • A large tomato paste factory is being planned for the Coega Industrial Development zone in the Eastern Cape. • Funding of $12m is being sought by Post Harvest Technologies (PHT), which initiated the project in conjunction with refrigeration contractors Club Refrigeration and Italian-based food-engineering company, FencoSpA. • It is hoped that about half of the eventual capacity of 50,000t/year of paste will be produced by mid-2008. However, construction of the factory has not yet started, as finances still had to be tied up, according to Gus Robinson, MD of PHT. 47

48. If successful, tomato paste will be produced in bulk for the local market as well as for export to the rest of Africa and abroad. • Commercial farmers will be recruited to grow tomatoes in the Sundays River area, which, according to Robinson, is uniquely positioned to produce two growing cycles a year. 48

49. In Angola ... • The Development Bank of Angola recently approved the funding of a project to install a $10.7m tomato paste factory in Matala district, south Huíla province. • Local newspapers report that the factory will have a capacity of 6t/hr of fresh tomato, to obtain an output of "at least" 1t/hr of tomato paste. • It is estimated that the factory will process about 12,500t/year of fresh tomatoes. • The project will reportedly use  Spanish technical assistance. 49

50. In Nigeria ... • The Sokoto State government in Nigeria is seeking investment for small and medium scale enterprises in tomato juice and puree production. • The project involves the construction and operation of the facility. • For this project, contact Alhaji Sani Garba Shuni, Permanent Secretary of Economic Planning, via email: ajiyashuni@yahoo.com 50