Canning Process

Unit Operations
The typical unit operations in a canning plant
are as below.

Raw Material Cleaning

All food raw materials are cleaned before processing. The purpose is obviously
to remove contaminants, which range from innocuous to dangerous. It is important
to note that removal of contaminants is essential for protection of process equipment as well
as the final consumer. For example, it is essential to remove sand, stones or metallic particles
from wheat prior to milling to avoid damaging the machinery. The main contaminants are:
unwanted parts of the plant, such as leaves, twigs, husks;
soil, sand, stones and metallic particles from the growing area;
insects and their eggs;
animal excreta, hairs etc.;
pesticides and fertilisers;
mineral oil;
microorganisms and their toxins.

There are a number of cleaning methods available, classified into dry and wet methods, but a
combination would usually be employed for any specific material. Selection of the
appropriate cleaning regime depends on the material being cleaned, the level and type of
contamination and the degree of decontamination required.

Sorting and grading
All food products undergo some kind of sorting operation. There are a number of benefits,
including the need for sorted units in weight-filling operations and the aesthetic and
marketing advantages in providing units of uniform size or colour. In addition, it is much
easier to control processes such as sterilisation, dehydration or freezing in sorted food units;
and they are also better suited to mechanised operations such as size reduction, pitting or
peeling.


Peeling
Peeling of fruits and vegetables is frequently carried out in association with
cleaning. Mechanical peeling methods require loosening of the skin using one
of the following principles, depending on the structure of the food and the level
of peeling required
Steam is particularly suited to root crops. The units are exposed to high pressure
steam for a fixed time and then the pressure is released causing steam
to form under the surface of the skin, hence loosening it such that it can be
removed with a water spray.

Lye (12% alkali) solution can be used to soften the skin which can again be
removed by water sprays. There is, however, a danger of damage to the product.

Brine solutions can give a peeling effect but are probably less effective than
the above methods.

Abrasion peeling employs carborundum rollers or rotating the product in a
carborundum-lined bowl, followed by washing away the loosened skin. It is
effective but here is a danger of high product loss by this method.

Mechanical knives are suitable for peeling citrus fruits.

Flame peeling is useful for onions, in which the outer layers are burnt off
and charred skin is removed by high pressure hot water.

Blanching
Blanching is a mild heat treatment, but is not a method of preservation per se. It is a
pretreatment usually performed between preparation and subsequent processing. Blanching
consists of heating the food rapidly to a predetermined temperature, holding for a specified
time, then either cooling rapidly or passing immediately to the next processing stage.
Blanching is an important operation for vegetables in which air, water, or
steam can be used to heat the product to about 8899C, blanching is performed to:
1. inactivate enzymes responsible for quality degradation such as texture and color
changes,
2. remove air from the raw vegetables which results in better packing inside the can and
reduces chances of corrosion by reducing excess oxygen from the headspace;
3. prevent browning in certain products;
4. help to preheat the product before sealing;
5. soften the food and make it easier to fil in containers.

For blanching, the product can either be placed in hot water or be conveyed
through belt and exposed to hot water or steam. Blanching of vegetable soybean
at 100C for 90 seconds reduced the initial lipoxygenase activity by 99% (Mozzoni et al.
2009). However, the blanching operation produces the major portion of the effluent in a
canning plant. The use of microwave for blanching has potential to improve this situation.


Filling/Weighing
Prepared vegetables are placed into cans by means of a depositor. A depositor adds a
predetermined quantity of products in each can followed by the addition of brine (NaCl
and/or CaCl2). The can is not completely filled leaving about 1 inch of headspace is
important. Lower headspace can cause the ends of can to bulge and may also cause
understerilization.

Exhausting and Vacuum Closing
Exhausting is a key step to maintain vacuum. In this process, fille cans are passed through an
exhaust box containing water at about 90C so as to bring the temperature of the center of the
can to about 71C. The exhausting expands products and expels trapped air and gases.
Vacuum closing helps to retain the container shape and prevents distortion during retorting; it
maintains the concave position of the can and helps in reducing oxygen inside the can. Low
level of oxygen prevents discoloration that might happen due to oxidation of fats or vitamins;
it also reduces internal corrosion of the can. High-speed vacuum sealers draw the vacuum out
of the headspace of can. The firs step in this process is to clinch the lid on the can without an
air tight seal. Then the machine applies vacuum to remove air from the headspace of the
container and then it is finall sealed with the second press rollers to get a double air tight
seam.

Retort Process (Sterilisation)

Containers are sterilised in retorts, which are large pressure vessels. Batch and continuous
retorts are available and the heating medium is either steam, pressurised hot water, or
steam/air mixtures.
Sterilisation of foods by the application of heat can either be in sealed containers
or by continuous flow techniques. Whatever the process, the main concerns are with food
safety and quality. The most heatresistant pathogenic bacterium is Clostridium botulinum,
which does not grow below pH 4.5. On this basis, the simplest classification is to categorise
foods as either as acid foods (pH<4.5) or low-acid foods (pH>4.5). Note that a broader
classification has been used for canning: low-acid (pH>5.0), medium-acid (pH 4.55.0), acid
(pH 4.53.7), high-acid (pH<3.7). However, as mentioned earlier, the main concern is with
foods at pH>4.5. For such foods, the minimum recommended process is to achieve 12D
reductions for C. botulinum. This is known as the minimum botulinum cook. This requires
heating at 121 _C for 3 min, measured at the slowest heating point.

Static Retort: A static retort does not provide agitation to the can and they normally operate
at 115.6C to 121.1C (240F to 250F). The cans are kept inside the retort and the
retort is sealed. Pressure is build up in the retort for cooking after venting the air with steam. There is
continuous supply of steam during the duration of cook. Vertical steam retort is a good example of
static retort. Some retorts also use steam and air combination to achieve uniform temperature
distribution. Water spray retorts circulate the stored water through pumps and spray it on cans. The
water is then circulated through the heat exchanger where it is heated again by the steam.
Cascading water fl w retorts use continuous fl w of heated water throughout the retort to maintain
uniform temperature distribution.

Rotary Cookers: Rotating action or agitation to the can provides a better rate of heat transfer to the
product inside the can and hence significantl reduces process time. Cans inside the retort can be
rotated at a certain speed depending on the type of product.
There are three phases of can rotation:
(1) Fixed reel travelcans are carried on a central axis for a distance of about 220 degrees around
the periphery of the shell of retort;
(2) Free rotationcans roll freely on their central axis on a spiral tees at the lower
portion of the shell for a distance of about 100 degrees; and (3) Transitional phasethis is
the transition phase for the cans from free rotation to the fi ed reel travel.

Continuous retorts: In this type of retort, cans are carried from one end of the retort to the other end
along the surface of the retort. Sometimes agitation is also provided to improve heat transfer rate by
inducing forced convection in the product inside the can. This system has advantages over the static
or batch type systems in terms of time and energy. Steriflamm process is a continuous cooker and
utilizes direct flam (1093.3C, or 2000F) on rolling cans (80 rpm) for predetermined time. Cans are
packaged under high vacuum and are brought up to an initial temperature of 100C/212F before
processing with flame This system is suitable for processing small cans.

Hydrostatic pressure sterilizers: This is also a continuous type retort system in which steam
pressure is maintained by the water pressure. There are four chambers in hydrostatic cookers, a
come-up leg, sterilizing chamber, a hydrostatic come-down leg, and a cooling system. It uses large
columns of water as a feed system for cans inside the high pressure steam chamber of the cooker.
Cans are placed horizontally on a moving chain which carries cans through the legs into the
sterilization chamber. Processing time is determined by the chain speed and the temperature of the
chamber. This system is suitable for large volume productions and it can also handle various sizes of
cans and jars. The major advantages of such a system include savings in
floor space, high volume operation, and reduction in steam and water cost.


Cooling
is a very important operation and containers should be cooled as quickly as possible down to
a final temperature of 3540_C. As the product cools, the pressure inside the can falls and it
is important to ensure that the pressure in the retort falls at about the same rate. This is
achieved by using a combination of cooling water and compressed air to avoid a sudden fall
in pressure caused by steam condensation. Water quality is important and it should be
free of pathogenic bacteria. This can be assured by chlorination, but an excessive amount
should be avoided as this may cause container corrosion. It is also important to avoid too
much manual handling of wet cans to reduce the levels of ppc.

The containers are then labelled and stored. A small proportion may be incubated
at elevated temperatures to observe for blown containers.