Apple Juice Processing Production Line

The apple juice production line is a complete processing system designed specifically for apple fruits, suitable for producing various product forms such as clarified, cloudy, concentrated, or NFC apple juice. The entire production line is made of food grade stainless steel and can be flexibly configured according to production capacity requirements. The daily processing capacity ranges from 5 tons to 500 tons and is widely used in fruit and vegetable processing enterprises, beverage factories, agricultural cooperatives, and export-oriented food factories.

Introduction to Apple Juice Production Line Products

With the continuous increase in consumer demand for healthy beverages, high-quality apple juice products such as 100% pure fruit juice, NFC (non concentrated reduction) fruit juice, and HPP (ultra-high pressure sterilization) cold pressed fruit juice are rapidly occupying the market. In order to meet the needs of food and beverage enterprises for efficient, safe, and automated apple juice production, modern apple juice production lines have emerged. This production line integrates raw material processing, cleaning, crushing, pressing, enzymatic hydrolysis, clarification, sterilization, filling and cleaning, integrating food engineering, mechanical automation and hygiene design concepts. It can achieve continuous and intelligent production from whole fruit to finished product, ensuring sufficient maintenance and preservation of products, pure flavor, and stable quality.

1、 Product Overview

The apple juice production line is a complete processing system designed specifically for apple fruits, suitable for producing various product forms such as clarified, cloudy, concentrated, or NFC apple juice. The entire production line is made of food grade stainless steel and can be flexibly configured according to production capacity requirements. The daily processing capacity ranges from 5 tons to 500 tons and is widely used in fruit and vegetable processing enterprises, beverage factories, agricultural cooperatives, and export-oriented food factories.

2、 Core process flow and equipment composition

1. Raw material receiving and pre-processing system
   Apples are transported into the production line via a conveyor belt. First, the surface sediment and impurities are removed by a bubble cleaner, and then the skin is thoroughly cleaned by a brush and spray device. Subsequently, rotten, insect infested, or discolored fruits are removed through manual or visual recognition systems on the picking platform to ensure the quality of the raw materials.

2. Crushing and Beating Unit
   The cleaned apples, after being pitted (optional), are then fed into a hammer or blade crusher to break the flesh into particles and increase juice yield. Some are equipped with integrated skin and core removal machines, suitable for NFC products. After crushing, the pulp enters the pulping machine to separate the skin, core, and coarse fibers, obtaining a fine pulp.

3. Squeezing system
   Adopting spiral press, belt press or high-efficiency hydraulic press. Belt presses are particularly suitable for high fiber apple varieties, with clear juice and low residue moisture content. The entire pressing process is sealed to prevent oxidation and pollution.

4. Enzymatic hydrolysis and clarification (optional)
   For clarified apple juice, pectinase is added to the pulp in a temporary storage tank and kept at 45-50 ℃ for 1-2 hours to decompose the pectin and improve clarity and filtration efficiency. Subsequently, suspended solids are removed by a diatomaceous earth filter or membrane filtration system (microfiltration/ultrafiltration) to obtain clear juice with a transmittance of>90%.

5. Sterilization system

   • pasteurizationSuitable for refrigerated NFC juice, using plate or tube heat exchangers for rapid cooling, retaining vitamins and flavors.
   • UHT ultra-high temperature instantaneous sterilizationUsed for selling products at room temperature, with sterile filling, the shelf life can reach 6-12 months.
   • HPP ultra-high pressure cold sterilization(Precision option): It can kill pathogenic bacteria without heating, preserve fresh taste and nutrition, and is suitable for the cold pressed juice market.

6. Filling and packaging system
   According to product positioning, multiple filling forms can be configured:

   • Aseptic brick bag, PET bottle, glass bottle, roof box (refrigerated)
   • Prefabricated cup filling (for catering channels)
   • Large capacity bagged (used for catering or industrial raw materials)
     High filling accuracy, integrated with automatic capping, capping, labeling, coding, weight inspection, and removal functions.

7. CIP fully automatic cleaning system
   The entire pipeline, tank and equipment support one click CIP (online cleaning) program, using food grade alkaline solution, acid solution and hot water circulation cleaning. The cleaning effect can be verified to ensure cleanliness between each batch of production and prevent microbial cross contamination.

3、 Technological advantages and intelligent features

• High yield, low lossOptimize crushing and pressing parameters to reduce raw material costs.
• Fully enclosed, low oxygen processKey processes use nitrogen protection or vacuum degassing to reduce browning and VC loss.
• modular designEach unit can operate independently or be controlled through linkage, facilitating capacity expansion and process adjustment.
• intelligent control systemPLC+touch screen+SCADA system realizes full process parameter monitoring, data recording, alarm prompt and remote operation and maintenance, supporting integration with factory MES system.
• Energy-saving and environmental protectionThe heat recovery device uses the waste heat from the sterilization section to preheat the feed, which is environmentally friendly and energy-saving; Variable frequency drive reduces power consumption; Water saving CIP reduces water usage.

4、 Application scenarios and product adaptation

This production line can flexibly produce the following apple juice products:

• 100% NFC non concentrated restored apple juice (refrigerated)
• Clear pasteurized apple juice
• UHT room temperature apple juice beverage
• Concentrated apple juice (for export or as a beverage base)
• HPP cold pressed apple juice
• Compound fruit and vegetable juice (such as apple carrot juice, apple celery juice, etc.)

Suitable for large juice brand merchants, regional beverage factories, agricultural product deep processing enterprises, and export processing bases.

5Apple Juice Production Line Parameters

raw material	Fresh apples/pears/prickly pears
finished product	Concentrated juice or clear juice or jam
production capacity	60 tons/day -1500 tons/day
juice extraction rate	75% (25% is fruit fiber, skin and core)
solid content	10-12Brix
Concentrated juice concentration	70~72Brix
finished product packaging	Aseptic large bags/cans/glass bottles/PET bottles
output	Customized according to customer needs