Nuts Processing Plant & Machinery Solutions

Nuts in shell are taken in and cleaned of soil, stones, sticks and tramp metal on a screen and aspiration cleaner. Cleaned stock is held in bins ahead of shelling.

The shell or husk is cracked and opened, then kernel and shell are separated by air and by weight. Areca, betel and coconut go through their own dehusking route.

The testa or skin is loosened and taken off, and kernels are polished where the product is sold blanched. Almonds and groundnuts are the main lines that use this stage.

Kernels are dried down for storage, or roasted where the product is a roasted nut, and then cooled before sorting. Dates and foxnut branch to their own drying schedules.

Kernels are graded to size, then sorted to remove discoloured, split and foreign pieces. Sorting is done optically and by hand pick on the belt.

Some kernels go on to be split, milled into butter or paste, or pressed for oil rather than sold whole. Groundnut is the usual candidate for all three.

Finished kernels are weighed, checked for foreign body and filled into pouches, vacuum packs or jars. Pack format follows whether the nut goes to retail or to bulk trade.