PROCESSING OF CTC BLACK TEA

SAPTASHISH DEB
PG/FET/1850269

SANT LONGOWAL INSTITUTE OF ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY

LONGOWAL- 148106, SANGRUR, PUNJAB
 INTRODUCTION

 Tea is manufactured from the young shoots of the tea

plant Camellia sinensis.
 Tea is a non-alcoholic aromatic
beverage.
 There is a misconception that the source of different
tea is different.
 The quality of tea is governed by crop quality, standard
of plucking, and various post-harvest unit operations.
 THE TEA PLANT
 Adaptation
 Temperature
 18-30°C
 Leaf growth stops
 Below 13°C
 Above 35°C
 Shoot replacement cycle related to temp.
 Equatorial region
 Grown in highlands (1000-3000 m)
 Rainfall
 1150 mm if evenly distributed
 Soil type
 Acid soils (pH 4.0 to 5.6)
 Good drainage
 Good water holding capacity
 TYPES OF TEA

 CTC (Crush, Tear and Curl) black tea

 Orthodox tea
 Green tea
 White tea
 Olong tea
In India, CTC black tea is the most consumed
one compare with other types of tea (Sanyal,
2011).
 HEALTH BENEFITS OF TEAS
 Anti-carcinogenic activity
 Lung cancer, prostate cancer, breast cancer, skin
cancer; stomach, pancreatic and colon cancers
 Anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial properties
 Dental and oral diseases
 AIDS

 Cardioprotective and neuroprotective properties

 Heart disease
 Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases
FLAVONOIDS AND OTHER COMPONENTS IN TEA
PROCESSING OF CTC BLACK TEA
Withering

Cutting of leaves

Maceration

Fermantation

Drying

Sorting & Grading

Packing
 WITHERING
 Withering is the first and foremost steps involved in tea
manufacture.
 Types of withering;
1. Physical withering
2. Chemical withering
 Various withering systems, namely trough withering, tunnel
withering, tat withering, and drum withering systems have been in
use.

Fig. 1(A). Open trough Fig. 1(B) Closed trough

 CUTTING OF LEAVES
 Equipment used for cutting of leaves is called
rotorvane.

Fig. 2.. Rotorvane

 The processing zone inside is fitted with resistors.

 A 15” rotorvane has 11 vanes and 48 resistors in it.
 The motor providing power of 20 HP and the RPM is 42.
 Leaf temperature should not beyond 32 ̊C.
 MACERATION
 The principle objective of leaf maceration is to undertake cell rupture.
 A CTC machine is known as crushing, tearing and curling machine.
 It consists of two stainless steel engraved rollers.
 These rollers are meshed closely and are made to rotate in opposite
directions at a speed difference of 1:10.
 The diameter of the roller varies between 20.3 cm (8 inch) to 20.95 cm
(8.25 inch).

Fig. 3. CTC Maceration Unit

 REQUIREMENTS FOR GOOD CTC TEA
 Good Leaf
 Optimum Wither
 Speed of Rollers
 Correct Setting of Rollers
 Sharpness of Teeth
 Temperature of rolling room
 Cleanliness
After maceration leaves pass through Ghoogi, which is basically a
rolling drum used to make macerated leaves granular in shape.
Ghoogi also helps in extracting fiber out of the macerated leaves.
 FERMENTATION
 Fermentation of tea is one of the most significant steps in
tea processing.
 The fermentation process involves the oxidation of
chemicals.
 Fermentation of leaf begins with its rolling.

Fermentation Process Chemistry

 Fermentation chemistry mainly depends on conversion
of TF to TR.
Fig. 4. Development of the quality characteristics of tea during fermentation (Source: Pou, 2016)
 FERMENTATION TECHNIQUES

Fig. 5. Floor Fermentation Fig. 6. CFM

A continuous Fermenting Machine need to fulfill some basic
requirements to give better result;
a) The fermentation bed with standard supplied motor must be able
to sustain the load of macerated leaf.

b) The machine should be low height from the ground level.

c) The belt on which the leaves are spread should not be made by
any metal.

d) There should be a suitable feed conveyor .

e) Air distribution should be uniform to facilitate at least 95% RH.

f) Periodic cleaning and maintenance is highly required to avoid the

contamination.
 DRYING
 The basic function of Drying is to arrest fermentation.

 The fermented leaf carrying with 65-70 % moisture.

 There are three essential requirements for proper firing

of tea;
1. Controlled temperature.

2. Controlled rate of moisture evaporation.

3.Controlled moisture content of final product (2.5-3%).

 Dryers used for tea drying;
A. Conventional dryer
B. FBD

Fig. 7. FBD
MERITS OF FBD OVER CONVENTIONAL DRYER

 FBD Require less exhaust temperature compare to

conventional dryer.

 Coal consumption is lower than conventional dryer.

 Less maintenance cost of FBD than conventional dryer.

 It is easier to operate FBD than conventional dryer.

FACTORS RESPONSIBLE FOR DRYING PROCESS

1. Temperature of air

2. Volume of air

3. Period of drying

4. Mass transfer
 SORTING AND GRADING
 Sorting is a mechanical process.
 Earlier it was believed that sorting did not require the
equal management.
 Main objective of sorting is to classify tea according to ;
A. Size
B. Shape
C. Specific gravity
D. Surface characteristics
 Today sorting is an equal important factor in order to
produce tea which will be accepted to the buyers and
blenders.
Fig. 8. Pennwalt Screen Sorter (PSS) machine
 PACKING
 It is necessary to pack in suitable containers so that, its
quality does not deteriorate.
 Bulk packing containers should be fed from a hopper at a
regular rate.
 Tea should never be forced down by hand to save the
bloom loss.
 The CTC teas made from under withered teas are likely
to be damage more, unless handle carefully.
 Tea should contain, when it is packed, preferably not
more than 3% moisture.
 In case if made tea absorb moisture and its go up to 4%
then before packing “Gapping” need to be done.
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