For many people, knowing the process of producing tomato paste in a factory can be interesting.
Today, most people use industrial tomato paste and there are fewer people who prepare this product at home for annual consumption.
Tomato paste is one of the most popular food seasonings among Iranians, which is used in various dishes.
In this article, we have tried to explain the different stages of preparing tomato paste for you
In this article you will read:
- History of industrial tomato paste
- Introduction to the industrial tomato paste process
- Description of the process of preparing tomato paste in the factory
- Tips on industrial tomato paste
Choosing the right tomato for making paste:
In the process of producing tomato paste, both local and greenhouse tomatoes can be used. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages.
Using local tomatoes produces less paste, but the paste does not mold and spoils less quickly. Greenhouse tomatoes produce more paste but are more expensive. Usually, for every 100 kilograms of fleshy and juicy tomatoes, between 10 and 15 kilograms of tomato paste are obtained.
Usually, factories use tomatoes that are oval, fleshy and juicy. The tomatoes must be fully red and ripe and there should be no yellow, green or white parts of the tomato.
Care should be taken when choosing tomatoes, as crushed, spoiled and moldy tomatoes change the taste of the paste.
History of industrial tomato paste:
Tomato paste was first produced in Italy. Italians were looking for a different and new flavor to flavor their pastas. So they decided to make a sauce from tomato extract and thus Sicily and other cities in southern Italy became the cradle of tomato paste.
You may be interested to know that most Mediterranean residents prefer not to consume pure tomato paste and combine it with ingredients such as olive oil and various fresh vegetables to give their food a pleasant taste. Currently, Mediterranean countries are among the leaders in tomato paste consumption in the world. They do not fry the paste like us Iranians and like to taste the paste itself.
In the defined standard for industrial tomato paste, no ingredients other than tomatoes can be added to the paste.
Of course, in some non-reputable brands of tomato paste, combinations of zucchini or onion can be seen in the analysis. On the other hand, the salt present in industrial pastes, according to the Standards Organization, is about 1 to 2 percent, and if more than this amount of salt is added to them, it is considered fraud.
At Aroom Ada factory, tomato paste is produced completely organically and the process of canning tomato paste makes it possible to keep it healthy for 24 months without adding any preservatives. However, keep in mind that after opening the lid, it should be stored in the refrigerator.
The ingredients of industrial tomato paste are not very diverse, perhaps their distinguishing feature is the concentration of tomato paste, which this difference is created by the amount of heat applied to the tomato.
Introduction to the stages of industrial tomato paste production:
The following steps must be followed in the process of producing tomato paste in the factory:
- Purchase and receipt of tomatoes
- Preliminary soaking and washing of tomatoes
- Sorting and washing tomatoes
- Chopping tomatoes
- Pre-cooking
- Filtration
- Formula tank
- Concentrating tomato water
- Pasteurization
- Filling in cans and capping
- Pasteurization of filled cans
- Passing under a cold water shower
- Drying
- Labeling and packaging
- Supply to the market
Description of the process of preparing tomato paste in the factory:
In the first step, the tomatoes are brought into the factory in 25 kg baskets or boxes.On the loading platform there is a concrete basin, the bottom of which is covered with mesh plates and filled with water so that by opening the outlet valve, the tomatoes easily flow into the canal with the water. These channels have air pipes that make the tomatoes rotate and therefore wash better.
Then the tomatoes are passed under a shower of water for final washing and placed on the sorting table to remove unripe, unhealthy, crushed tomatoes and other things like wood, etc. that were with the tomatoes.
Then the clean tomatoes, passing under a shower of water for final washing, enter the chopper and are chopped by the movable chopper blades under the movable ceiling. The chopped tomatoes are fed into a tank with a volume of about one meter called a balance tank.
In the pre-cooking stage, the heat causes the water yield to increase in the filtration stage and the pectinase enzyme is destroyed, and as a result, the produced paste has the appropriate viscosity.
The Industrial Production Process of Tomato Paste:
Pre-cooking
In addition to the benefits mentioned before, pre-cooking also:
- Reduces the microbial load and helps in the sanitation process in the next steps.
- Facilitates the water extraction process due to the disintegration and softening of the tomato tissue, and also reduces the wear and tear of the filters.
Filtration
After pre-heating, the chopped tomatoes enter two or three-stage filters, the difference between the stages being in the diameter of the meshes. In this stage, the formulated tomato water is pumped into the concentration tank.
Salting
At this stage, up to 1.5% of the weight of the final product is added to the tomato water as table salt.
Concentration
The tomato water can be concentrated in one, two or more stages. The tomato water is heated indirectly with steam under vacuum in the concentration tank and loses its water.
Storage
The ready-made tomato paste is fed into a storage tank.
Pasteurization
The tomato paste is pasteurized by passing it through a device similar to a pre-heater and heated to a temperature of about 85 degrees Celsius.
Filling and Capping
When the concentration of solids in the tomato paste reaches 28, it is packaged and capped in special cans or similar containers.
Sterilization
After capping, the cans are passed through a steam tunnel so that the temperature of the center of the can reaches 90 degrees Celsius and is pasteurized. The residence time of the product in the heat depends on the type of packaging and its size.
Cooling and Drying
After passing through the steam tunnel, the cans go under a cold water shower. Then the cans pass under a fan that blows warm air and dry.
Labeling and Packaging
After packing the paste, the cans must be sterilized. For this purpose, a cooking tunnel is used.
After that, the cans are labeled and packed in cardboard boxes. The produced product is transported to the product warehouse and after a quarantine period of about 15 days, if the test results are negative, it can be marketed.
Tips on the Tomato Paste Production Process:
Packaging:Tomato pastes are currently offered on the market in various packages such as glass or metal cans. These pastes do not differ from each other in terms of production method and nutrients, but pastes in metal cans are more reliable and can be stored for longer periods; Because it is better and more possible to sterilize the can and keep it in an autoclave than glass. Of course, glasses are also heated and sterilized in an autoclave; But again, the amount of heat that can be applied to cans is more than glass because the resistance of cans to heat is higher than glass.
Nutritional Value: The lycopene in tomato paste is more than the lycopene in fresh tomatoes due to exposure to heat. According to nutritionists, “the nutritional value of industrial pastes is higher than that of homemade pastes”, because to make industrial paste, tomatoes are placed in vacuum evaporators and by creating a vacuum in closed boilers, the tomato water instead of boiling and evaporating at 100 degrees Celsius, reaches the boiling point at 60 degrees Celsius. In this case, a larger volume of minerals, vitamins and micronutrients of tomatoes remains in it. While in the traditional method, a higher volume of vitamins and micronutrients of tomatoes are destroyed due to the higher heat they see. In general, tomato paste is much better than tomatoes themselves in terms of the amount of lycopene, antioxidants and anti-cancer agents.
Color: The redness of the paste depends on the method of preparation. Since today’s tomato pastes are made in a vacuum, they are usually red and do not turn black. Of course, very light pastes are also made from unripe and unripe tomatoes, and excessive darkness of the paste can also indicate that the vacuum device has not done its job properly.
