Desiccated Coconut Processing Plant & Machinery Solutions

Mature nuts are fed from reception and the fibrous husk is stripped, after which the hard shell is broken away to release the white kernel. Husk and shell are diverted separately so that only clean kernel carries forward into the food-grade section of the plant.

The brown testa is pared from the kernel so that the finished product stays white, and the pared kernel is then washed and rinsed. Paring waste is collected apart from the kernel because it is normally sold on for oil extraction.

Washed kernel is blanched in hot water or steam to reduce the surface microbial load before size reduction. The kernel is then cooled on the way to the cutters so that it does not carry heat into the shredding stage.

Blanched kernel is disintegrated and shredded into the fine, medium or chip cut that the buyer has specified. Cut material is screened as it leaves the cutters so that oversize pieces return for a second pass.

The wet shred is dried in a continuous hot-air dryer until the moisture is low enough for the product to keep in storage. Moisture is checked on the dried stream so that the drying air can be adjusted before the batch moves on.

Dried shred is sifted into its commercial grades and light husk particles are drawn off in the air stream. Graded material is held in bins so that each grade can be packed to its own specification.

Each grade is weighed out and formed into pouches or bags, with metal inspection ahead of the sealer. Sealed packs are checkweighed, coded and collated into cartons for despatch.