Module : FST 2224- CASH CROP

PROCESSING TECHNOLOGY

• Coffee processing technology

• Tea processing technology
• Cocoa processing technology
• Sugar cane processing technology.

Prepared by : Dr. Clement BITWAYIKI (PhD)

 1. The Coffee

Introduction and Definition

Classification of Coffee
• History and characteristic
• The Harvesting
• The Preparation
• Roasting of coffee
• The composition and tasting
 2. The Tea

• History and areas of culture in Rwanda

• The types of the Tea
• The tea storage
• The composition
• The process industrial
 3. Cocoa

• History
• The culture and collects
• The processing technology on family level to
the industry
 4. The Sugarcane technology
• History and areas of culture
• Preparation and processing:
 Juice extraction;
 Juice clarification and evaporation;
 Crystallization;
 Centrifuging.
• Drying and packaging
• Byproducts in sugar industry
• Quality control in industry
 Section1:
TECHNOLOGY IN THE PROCESSING OF COFFEE
(Coffea spp)
Introduction and history:
• The coffee is a drink which was preferred
considerably even in the olden ages. The Arab
people adopted it as a habit to make a daily
use of it, regarding their climatic conditions.
The legend of the history, the coffee derives
from the Arab word “Yahava” indicating all
drinks deriving from plants including wine.
 Introduction (cont.)
• It is under the name “ Arabia wine” that the
tasty black drink was imported by the
Venetian merchants at the beginning of the
17th century.
• During the 18th century, the shops of the
coffee multiplied to thrive in all Europe and to
become meeting places, culture, knowledge
exchange, exchange of news and stories.
 The type of coffee worldwide

• Coffea arabica or Arabica coffee, accounting

for 85-90% of world production;
• Coffea canephora or Robusta coffee,
contributing 10-15% to world production;
• Coffea liberica or Liberica coffee and Coffea
dewevrei or Excelsa coffee, which is only
account for less than 1% of total production.
 Arabica Coffee Plant

The Coffee characteristics and classification

The coffee as plant is an always green shrub, of the
family of rubiaceas, which pushes easily and can
reach the height of 5-6 meters for the species
Arabica and 8 meters for the species Robusta.
• In the plantations, we carry out systematically
cutting the plants in order to give or maintain
the size and desired forms of the shrubs with a
height varying between 1,5-3meters.
• Coffee is a plant which has dark and pointed
leaves with a brilliant green color whereas the
flowers are in white color.
• A part from the leaves and flowers, we find also
the fruits and each fruit contains two grains,
dishes and crossed by a furrow on their internal,
convex parts on those external, covered with a
resistant film called “Parchment”.
• In some cases, when the fruit pushes at the end of
a branch, it happens to have one round grain,
called “Caracolito” or “beads coffee”.
• Exist approximately 60 species of plants of the
coffee known, but two only are marketed and are
known under the names of “Arabica Coffee” and
“Robusta Coffee”.
• The coffee Arabica pushes in very rainy areas
located between 900 and 2000meters of altitude.
Arabica is a famous coffee and very expended in
the world, covering the ¾ worldwide productions.
The most obvious qualities characteristics of the
Arabica coffee are the following:
 A sweetened taste;
 An enriched flavor;
 Weak caffeine content of 1,2-1,7%.
 All the types of Arabica coffee are not identical
in their qualities.
The types which are better are the following:
• The “mocha coffee di Harrar”;
• The “limu” Ethiopian;
• The Guatemalan “SHB”;
• The Brazilian “Santos”;
• “Blue Montain” Jamaicain.
• The Robusta coffee plant, we often find it in
low altitude areas (between 200 and
600meters with the top of the sea level) and
have advantages when it pushes even if the
climatic conditions become unfavourable.
• The Robusta coffee plant is the most resistant
plant having a faster growth, a more abundant
production and does not oblige too much
care.
According to it’s qualities, the Robusta coffee have
the following characteristics:
 A taste which is bitter, slightly wooded;
 A light flavor;
 Higher caffeine content varying between 1,8-4%.
• The production of the coffee Robusta represents
approximately ¼ worldwide productions.
• Originated from Africa, this coffee is especially
cultivated in Ivory Coast, in Uganda, Angola and in
Brazil.
The principal producer countries of the coffee can be harvested
in four subtropical geographical areas with heat-wet climate
favorable for that coffee:
• Central America and the Caribbean: Mexico, Panama and in
the island the Caribbean;
• South America: Brazil (1/3 of the worldwide production),
Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela;
• Africa: Production of the washed coffee of good quality,
produced by Cameroun, Kenya and Tanzania;
• Asia: India and Indonesia.
The plants flower after each precipitation and it happens that
on the same plant, we find flowers presenting the levels of
maturation very diverse, which creates big problem during
harvest.
 Harvesting process

Given their continuous blossoming, Coffea plants may carry green

fruits, fully ripe red cherries and overripe ones, all at the same time.
To avoid mixing the fruit and potentially contaminating a crop with
either green or overripe beans, handpicking is the best method of
coffee harvesting.
• This also allows for green fruit to stay on the
tree for the next round of harvesting, and
overripe fruit to be naturally discarded by
falling to the ground.
• A quicker, but far less accurate and common
method of harvesting is "stripping", whereby
branches are stripped of all their fruit either
by hand or the use of special machines.
A coffee farmer meticulously sorts Coffee beans
• The harvesters pick the coffee berries individually from
the plant and pack them in fique sacks, carrying the
fruits on their backs, or with help of bicycles to the
depulping machine.
• The pulp is used as compost, while the coffee beans are
fermented in containers for 24 hours to enhance their
quality.
• After the fermentation, the coffee beans are washed
with water to remove vegetative matter and damaged
coffee beans.
• This step differentiates Colombian Mild Coffee from
other mild non-washed coffees such as Mild Brazilian.
The coffee beans must then be dried under direct
sunlight, and covered during the night and when raining.
The harvest of the coffee is carried out by using two systems:
• The harvest known as “Picking” which is completely
manual way of harvesting. This practice which is more
expensive when one lays out a great extent of plantation,
but which guarantees a better quality of harvest;
• The harvest known as “Stripping” which is mechanic way of
harvesting. This method is faster and is often used to
facilitate harvest but does not guarantee good quality as
once the fruits do not arrive in maturation at the same
time, the machine which makes shaken the plants or coffee
owners, can easily make fall the fruits which are still young
and even from others which are too ripe. Thus harvest is
heterogeneous and the fruits can risk of a contamination,
when one of the fruits is contaminated, can transmit the
disease to the others.
Processing

Photo: drying of coffee with sun system

 Processing

Two ancient methods are still used today to extract

coffee beans from their cherries after harvest (the
dry process and the wet process) as follows:
• The dry process is necessary for fruit that has been
harvested by stripping. Once separated from other
matter such as leaves and bits of wood or pebbles,
the coffee cherries are spread out in the fresh air on
threshing floors to the sun for drying in a few days.
Then, they are put through a hulling machine that
frees the beans by crushing the hulls and parchment.
 Processing (cont.)

The dry method produces "natural" green coffees, also

called "unwashed" green coffees. Method of dry
extraction makes it possible to obtain natural coffees.
This method is carried out by making the drying of the
fruits to the sun during several days and the fruits lose
water up to 60% and must be continuously brewed. The
process continues until the level of moisture, reaches at
least 20%.
Once perfectly dry, the fruits are peeled using the special
machines which withdraw the cover from it and pulps it
dried;
 Processing (Cont.)

• Method to wet coffee, which is called “Method of washed

coffee”. This method is applied by using a great amount of
water to soak the fruits and to peel them at the same
time. This process is more vulgar in our country and this
makes it possible to have a good quality and as the result
the price of this product is higher. Thus the fruits are
placed in a water tank and pass in various sieves on
several occasions and arrive afterwards in a machine
which removes pulp. The longer and more complex wet
process is mostly used for coffee cherries that are
handpicked, and thus more uniform in size.
 Processing

• Once gathered, the fruit is put into pulping machines that free
the seeds in their parchment from the hulls. The beans are
then fermented or "washed" in large water tanks for several
days to remove any remaining decomposed pulp formed
during this phase. This operation also triggers off a series of
chemical reactions in many Arabica varieties that enhance the
coffee's aromatic and flavor qualities. The washed beans are
then sun dried, freed from their parchment with the use of
centrifugal force, then polished and electronically sorted to
weed out defective beans and finally, graded for size, form and
color ready for selection and shipment.
• After this operation, the grains are still surrounded
by film known as “parchment” and the remainder of
pulps is eliminated by two days from fermentation.
• They are washed and dried with the sun and this last
exalter allows the increase on quality of the coffee.
Once the grains are dry, we make them last in a
machine be peeled to withdraw the parchment and
to release the green grain of the coffee.
• This system is longer, complicated and expensive,
but allows obtaining a good coffee which is
homogeneous, having a coffee with a good quality.
• A production of the coffee, increasingly important and
inevitably leads to a reduction in qualitative standard.
It is almost impossible to eliminate in each stock the
defected grains from the beginning.
• In order to obtain a product of quality, the foreign
bodies (stones, ends of wood, bodies metal, damaged
seeds,…) are eliminated in the coffee beans before it is
introduced into the silos. Advanced technologies are
now applied to the coffee by regulating the
homogeneity of the coffee before it is roasted and this
allows an optimal quality of coffee. This selection
leads to make appropriate price of coffee according to
the quality of that coffee.
SELECTION
No other agricultural product is put through such a continual series of
quality control tests, as is coffee. Beyond the detection and elimination of
defective beans, these controls ultimately serve as a basis for the final
selection of green coffees that meet the quality and taste specifications
required for proper blending.
Expert coffee buyers perform these decisive tests on samples prior to
purchase, thus guaranteeing that only the highest quality reaches your
cup.
 The roasting of the coffee

• The process of roast the coffee allows a

caramelisation of sugar and reduction of a quantity
of water in the grains, at the same time the clean
smooth of the coffee which becomes more
characterized in coffee. The raw green coffee must
be roasted during the period of 15minutes, by an
operation residing at the introduction of the grains
into a machine equipped with a turning cylinder
and heats by a source of heat.
Roasting
levels of roasting
The coffee beans had been roasted with charcoal in
saucepans from the fourteenth century to the late
nineteenth century, when the rotary gas-ignited oven was
developed, which is still in use today.
The oven roasts the beans at temperatures between 400 °F
(204 °C) and 425 °F (218 °C) for 10 to 20 minutes. Roasting
the coffee beans converts the starches into the aromatic
oils which give the coffee its characteristic flavor.
Roasted coffee beans
According with the type of roasting, from low roast to
high roast, the coffee beans are classified as:
• Level: Cinnamon Roast. Aspect: Slightly roasted, Light
cinnamon color. features: Nut flavor, High acidity
• Level: American Roast. Aspect: Mid Roasted,
Chestnut color. Features: caramel flavor
• Level: City Roast. Aspect: Mid Roasted, medium
brown, no oils on surface. features: Full coffee flavor,
mid acidity.
• Level: Full City Roast. Aspect: Mid Roasted, medium-
dark brown. Features: Full coffee flavor, low acidity
• Level: Vienna Roast. Aspect: Intense Roast, dark
brown, traces of oil on surface. Features: Slightly
bitter flavor
• Level: French Roast. Aspect: Intense Roast, dark
brown-black, oily surface. features: Bitter flavor
• Level: Italian Roast. Aspect: Intense roast, bitter,
black, oily surface. Features: Smoked flavor
• Espresso Roast. Aspect: Intense Roast, specific for
espresso machines. features: Smoked sweet flavor.
• This is not an actual roast level, since there are many
different styles to roast espresso from Full City to
Italian.
BLENDING

 
No one coffee and no one crop of the same coffee unites all
the characteristics necessary to create the balance in taste,
richness of aromas and fullness of body that determines a
truly fine espresso. Such balance can only be achieved by
blending superior beans of different origins and
characteristics, and the greatest homogeneity in taste and
aroma is reached if blending is performed before roasting.
It is possible to roast the coffee according to the taste of the
consumers:
• Strong and pronounced taste once prolonged the process
of roasting and by using a high temperature.
• Light and clear taste, when roasting is fast.

In Blending the taste is a matter of personal preference;

this is certainly true when it comes to coffee. The
consumers of each country required differents
characteristics in their daily cup of coffee. They may like,
for example, a strong, or equally, a somewhat milder
flavour. Such differences in taste may even can occur
within the same country at a regional level.
 a)Blending for a stable taste

To produce the desired flavour, various coffee

varieties are blended together. The principal aim
in blending coffee is to arrive at a flavour and
aroma which can be continually reproduced. The
blender uses recipes which have already proven
that they meet the taste criteria of a certain
region. Coffee is a natural product, and given that
the quality of the harvest is unstable, the recipes
for blends must be regularly adjusted.
 b) First blend, then roast
As a rule, different coffees are combined while
still raw, to produce what is referred to in the
trade as 'blends'. A very small number of
roasters prefer to blend their coffees after
roasting. Four or more different varieties are
necessary in order to achieve the particular
flavour required because only by blending can
the natural fluctuations in quality amongst the
different varieties be compensated for.
 c) The art of roasting
Coffee's characteristic flavour and aroma
develop during the roasting process. The
flavour is locked within the green coffee bean
until it is roasted. Heating green coffee beans
sets a series of complex chemical reactions in
motion that release the flavour compounds
hidden within each bean.
 d) Art and science
Roasting coffee beans to perfection is an art as
much as a science, since they may react
differently to the roasting process, depending on
the soil and weather conditions in which they
were grown and the processing method used.
Different types of coffee require different roasts
to bring out their rich flavours. An experienced
roaster adjusts the roasting time and
temperature for each batch of beans so they can
reach the peak flavour and desired roast.
 Green Coffee Composition (% of dries maters)
COMPOSANTS CAFE ARABICA CAFE ROBUSTA

Proteins, Amino acids 11,5 11,8

Aliphatics acids 1,4 1,4
Clorogenics acids 6,5 10,0
Lipids 16,0 10,0
Caffeine 1,2 2,2
Minerals 4,2 4,4
Glucosids 0,2 -
Carbohydrates 58,0 59,5
Moisture content 8,0-12,0 8,0-12,0
 The Composition of Roasted Coffee (% of dries
matters)
COMPOSANTS CAFE ARABICA CAFE ROBUSTA

Proteins 10,0 10,0

Aliphatic acids 2,4 2,5
Clorogenics Acids 2,7 3,1
Lipids 17,0 11,0
Caffeine COMPOSANTS1,3 2,4
Minerals 4,5 4,7
Carbohydrates 38,0 41,5
Volatils compounds (arômes) 0,1 0,1
Melanoïds 23,0 23,0
Moisture content 0,4-3,0 0,4-3,0
The roasting of the coffee can be carried out by
using the following methods:
Roasting using a hot air;
Roasting in a crowd with gas;
Roasting by simple grillor.

During the roasting of the coffee, the

characteristics most important of these
products are:
 Homogeneity of the grains in the machine;
 The color of the grains to the needs.
It thus proves to be necessary to check:
 The adjustment of the temperature;
 Method used with type of machine;
 Duration to have such a quality of color
according to the taste;
 Quantity of the grains in the apparatus.
• The most critical phase in coffee processing, roasting gives
coffee its unique aroma, taste and color.
• Seventy percent of the final characteristics that make coffee one
of the most enjoyable beverages in the world, and Nespresso
the most perfect of espressos, are realized during roasting.
• As the temperature rises in the huge rotating
cylinders of the roasting machines, the beans
lose 20% of their weight through moisture
evaporation.
• At the same time, the beans expand,
increasing by 60% in volume due to physio-
chemical reactions that activate substances
inside the cells which are responsible for
coffee's flavor and its over 900 volatile
aromas.
• Temperature is precisely controlled to never
exceed 230° C (446° F) and to never vary from
batch to batch of the same blend.
• The longer the roast and the higher the final
temperature, the stronger and more intensive
is the final flavor.
• Roasting times of Nespresso varieties vary
between 6 and 11 minutes, producing the
exquisitely subtle differences in each blend's
flavor and bouquet.
• Thus after roasting, coffee is packed and can
be sold in the consumers.
 In Rwanda, this operation was not carried out and
preferred to export the coffee beans green by OCIR Cafe,
Rwandex,….
o It is after reaching the destination that the other
companies continued all the others operations like
roasting, to grind the coffee, preparation of the instant
coffee and or coffee “express” and finally to pack in a
suitable way for consumers.
o Exist another way of doing the mixture of the coffee
with sweeteners and/or milk, cream or not and this
mixture are packaged and often ready to consume.
o It is enough to add an advised quantity of warm water to
it.
 The tasting of the coffee
 Like any other type of edible product, the coffee
requires a tasting to be to admire by the
specialists before delivering them in the
consumers.
 It was noticed that certain consumers can
require is a light or strong coffee of color or taste.
 It is then for these reasons that one starts an
analysis of the quality of the coffee by color,
odor, taste, etc….
 The Coffee taste characteristics
Diagnostic in the Cup Low Extraction Sufficient High Extraction
Extraction
Temperature of water To< 88oC 88< To< 92oC T>92oC

Compression Insuffisant Strong Average

       
The water pressure P< 9 atm. P=9atm. P>9atm.
       
The distribution time D< 27’ 27’< D< 30’ D>30’
       
Taste characteristics Insufficient Good aroma with Strong,
  Aroma, coffee enough sugar astringent, less
  weak   aroma
   
Persistence of good Very short Longue Short Aroma,
taste durable
  amertume
 The Coffee taste characteristics

Diagnostic in the Cup Low Extraction Sufficient High Extraction

Extraction
If the coffee is skimmed
 
The Color of creme Noisette clear Marron bure of Bord marron dark,
    dark red white bouton or
      black in central
   
Aspect in the cup Creme brun, Big creme, small bulbs half
  Big bulbe minuscules bulbes clear, half dark.
     
Duration of creme very short< 1 Long of 3-4minutes Average of 1-2
minute minutes
 Coffee preparation
• When hot water comes into contact with ground
coffee, the aroma, flavour and colour constituents
are released. Just how many of these components
finally end up in the cup is determined by the
grind size, water quality and quantity and brewing
temperature, as well as the length of time the
water is in contact with the ground coffee
(brewing time).
• Very simply, fine ground coffee, a high
temperature and a longer brewing time result in
more of the components being dissolved and
released.
• If too much of the content is removed in this
way, the coffee tastes strong and negative
bitter.
• Grind size, contact time and temperature
should on one hand allow extraction of many
of the water soluble components, but on the
other hand prevent extraction of negative
bitter components.
 Centuries of coffee brewing
• It is therefore hardly surprising that the search
for optimal quality in coffee as a beverage gave
rise, especially in the 18th and 19th centuries, to
the development of a whole host of infusion
methods, most of which have since disappeared.
• Many of these methods served to prepare the
ground for today's brewing methods. The idea
of boiling the ground roasted coffee in water
comes from Arabia.
The principles of brewing great coffee
The principles of brewing great coffee are always the same, no
matter which type of equipment you use:
• Always make sure your coffee maker is clean
• Use fresh water to brew the coffee
• Rinse the coffee pot well before you start
• Use fresh coffee. After opening the packet, keep the coffee
in a tightly-sealed container
• Buy the correct grind for your machine
• Use the same amount of coffee each time, in order to gain
as consistent a flavour as possible
• Make sure the coffee is evenly distributed within the filter
bag
• The best drip filter and French press coffee is brewed at
around 96 degrees Celsius. Moka express and Espresso
coffee is ideally brewed at 90 degrees Celsius. The ideal
temperature to serve it at is around 80 to 85 degrees Celsius.
• Coffee is at its most delicious directly after being brewed.
• For a uniform flavour, the coffee in the pot should be stirred
before pouring.
• Do not leave coffee standing on the hot plate for too long, or
the fine aromas will be lost. If you wish to keep the coffee
longer, use a thermos flask.
• Remember to de-scale the coffee machine every so often.
How often you need to do this depends on the hardness of
the water in your area.
• Use clean crockery
 Effects of Grind
Since there are so many different ways to brew
coffee, choosing the correct grind is essential to
get the optimal flavour extraction during
brewing.
The degree of extraction depends on three things:
• the fineness of the grind
• the ratio coffee / water
• the length of time the grounds have been in
contact with the water
 Generally, the shorter the brewing cycle, the finer the
grind required to produce optimal flavour extraction.
The longer the brewing cycle, the coarser the grind
required.
Fine grinds expose more of the coffee's surface area to
the water and the coffee's essential oils are released
faster. Longer brewing methods require a coarse grind
to avoid over-extraction. 
For example, espresso brewers can produce a cup of
espresso in just 20 seconds, so they need a very fine
grind. A grind that is mismatched to the brewing
method can produce a bitter, overly strong coffee, or
one that is weak and lacking in flavour.
 Decaffeinated coffee
• Coffee naturally contains the active supplement caffeine. The
stimulating power of coffee is as well known as the
outstanding taste. A lot of people appreciate this stimulating
power, but there are some people that do not handle caffeine
so well or do not like the stimulating effect every time of the
day. For them there is decaffeinated coffee on the market. This
decaffeinated coffee lacks the stimulating power of caffeine.
• Normal coffee beans contain between 0.8 percent and 2.5
percent caffeine depending on origin and variety.
Decaffeinated coffee is not entirely caffeine-free. In European
Community (EC) countries, roasted decaffeinated coffee may
contain a caffeine residue of 0.1 percent and coffee extract 0.3
percent.
 Decaffeination processes
To make coffee caffeine free, the stimulating supplement
needs to be derived from the beans.
Since coffee develops most of its flavour during roasting, the
caffeine is extracted from the raw green coffee beans.
Various methods exist to achieve this, of which the water-
carbon (H2O/C) and dichloromethane (as DCM) methods are
the most used. Both of these techniques extract the caffeine
with a caffeine-selective solvent, which therefore leaves the
other substances in the bean. Modern decaffeinating
methods have no effect upon the flavour and aroma of the
coffee. Good decaffeinated coffee therefore tastes almost
the same as coffee containing caffeine.
 1. Water-carbon method
This process uses water (H2O) as a solvent.
The green beans are rinsed with water for a long
period, during which time the caffeine dissolves
into the water. The water, with its dissolved
caffeine, is then pumped through an active
carbon (C) filter which absorbs the caffeine.
The decaffeinated beans are dried using warm air
and then cooled with cold air. They are then
roasted, ground and packed in the usual way. The
water is re-used for the decaffeination process.
 2. Dichloromethane process
• This method employs dichloromethane (DCM) as a
solvent and has been developed to suit the
requirements of the out of home industry. The green
beans are moistened with water in order to make the
surface of the bean porous, and soaked in the solvent
for 30 minutes. This is repeated several times.
• The beans are removed from the solvent once the
caffeine has dissolved. They are then steamed for some
time in order to remove any remaining solvent.
Afterwards the beans are dried using warm air, then
cooled with cold air. They are roasted, ground and
packed in the usual way. The dichloromethane is reused
for further decaffeinating.
• Commercial decaffeination processes were
initiated in Germany during the early part of
the 20th century.
• Today there are a variety of different methods
employed to remove the caffeine from coffee
beans, with all processes safely and selectively
removing about 97-98% of the caffeine.
• The process of decaffeination is carried out
while the beans are still 'green', before they
are roasted and the aroma develops.
The three main methods are:
• water decaffeination;
• carbon dioxide decaffeination and
• solvent decaffeination.
The first two methods are now used by major
manufacturers.
While solvents are still occasionally used, they are
governed by both national and European legislation.
Solvents include methylene chloride
(dichloromethane) and ethyl acetate (which occurs
naturally in fruits and other foods). Under European
law, methylene chloride residue levels must be under 2
parts per million.
 Instant coffee
Instant coffee was launched onto the market
in the 1950's.
A cup of instant coffee can be prepared
quickly and easily, without brewing, since this
has already been done in the factory.
Production processes of instant coffee

To produce instant coffee, millions of cups of

coffee a day are produced. These huge
amounts of fresh coffee are then concentrated
by allowing a considerable amount of the
water to evaporate. The coffee produced is
then made into instant coffee using one of the
two techniques: freeze-drying or spray-drying.
 1. Freeze-drying
• During freeze-drying the coffee concentrate is
deep-frozen to a temperature of around -40
degrees Celsius, causing the water particles in
the concentrated coffee to form ice crystals.
• Using a method known as sublimation the ice
is extracted from the frozen granules.
• The result is freeze-dried granular coffee with
a noticeable, yet limited loss of flavour.
 2.Spray-drying
• During spray-drying the concentrated coffee is
sprayed into the top of a high tower together
with hot air.
• Due to the heat the water evaporates as it falls,
so that all that remains is dried powdered coffee.
• Spray-drying is simpler than freeze-drying.
Because high temperatures are needed for this
process, many of the natural properties of the
coffee are lost. 
 Section2:
THE TEA PROCESSING TECHNOLOGY
• According to the Chinese mythology, the emperor Shen
Nung was the one who have been able first in testing the
browed leave of tea plant.
• Also exist of other legends which allocate it as discovered
by a boudhist priest named Bodhidharma, as this priest
started to be tired with sleepiness, then by chance, he
took and brew tea leave of plant which were there at its
sides, once tasted on this brewed products, he felt more
vigorous and the somnolence disappears. Since then, it
started progressively to recognize the properties of the
brewed tea.
• Much work tells the history on tea, that is to
say its plantation, preparation and tasting
while passing to the synopsis first plantations
of the tea plant. Tea is the term derived from
the word “Tchai, Cha and Tay” dialect Chinese,
all used to describe the beverage and the tea
leave.
• Tea is a long-lived plantation belonging to the
family of the “CAMELIA”. The modern
herbalists gave the name to the tea “Camelia
sinensis”.
• This plant requires a hot, wet climate with at
least 135mm of rain annually and a well
drained ground. The quality of tea depends on
the climatic conditions. Once altitudes are
high, the growth of the plants is slow and
harvest becomes tiny, but generally quality
will be better. The good quality of tea comes
from the fine gathering i.e. we are more
interested especially in the bud and two first
leave of each branch.
 Tea plantation in Rwanda is carried in the areas of high-
altitudes
• Mulindi tea factory in the North province;
• Cyohoha- Rukeri tea factory (SORWATE) in the North province;
• Pfunda tea factory in the west province;
• Nyabihu tea factory in west province;
• Rubaya tea factory in west province;
• Gisovu tea factory in the west province;
• Gisakura tea factory in the west province;
• Shagasha tea factory in the west province;
• Kitabi tea factory in the south province;
• Mata tea factory in the south province;
• Recently Mushubi tea factory was seated up in west province.
 Normally the climatic conditions, soil, time of harvest give
to tea its own or particular character. The production of
tea coming from the collected leaves is subdivided in
three categories according to the applied technology:
• The green tea
• The black tea
• The Oolong Tea
The color of tea is the result of the biochemical changes
occurring with the leaves once oxidized, before drying,
lasting the process within industry. The green the
normally undergoes a treatment of drying without
passing through fermentation and in this case, the color
remain unchanged as green.
 Tea which undergoes a rather long oxidation or a
half-fermentation, the leaves will have a color
neither green, nor black and this tea is known as
“The Oolong tea”.
• The leaves of tea which gave fully time to ferment,
produce black tea divert according to the
classification of tea by the set international
criteria.
• The most important factor is the size of tea leaves
in the plucking period, which is not the only one as
an indicator of quality, no matter what it often
influences the taste of liquor of tea.
• The tea divided into category of broken through
CTC and complete leaves for orthodox styles.
This category of the broken leaves is made up of
the smaller leaves and the particles of the broken
leaves which produce stronger and darker
gasoline unit.
• This tea is practically subdivided in the first three
categories of tea which are most expensive on
the international market. The first category of
powder is sold especially for the manufacture of
the drugs and other specific products.
 THE PLUCKING AND RECEPTION OF TEA
• The Plucking of tea is carried out while crossing with the
young hands, the first two leaves and bud, since these parts
of plants are still flexible with few fibers.
• The plucking height of tea bushes varies from 60 cm during
the “Tipping-in” process to the normal plucking at 120 cm.
• Plucked leaves composed by the bud and first two leaves
on the plucking process. Plucking being a delicate operation,
it is done by skilled operators who are capable of fast and
exact work to produce good quality leaf for the factory.
After plucking, the leaf is taken to the nearest leaf shed for
individual quality control and weighment. Then the
collected tea leave is sent to the factory by appropriate
transport.
Photo: Plucking of tea in plantation
• Once one brings the in the bags with
transport, one makes the analysis of the by
chance by taking 100gr and it allows to count
tea leave of good quality is by noticing the
form, the color, tea leave with fibers….
• In general, a good gathering requires at least
75% of tea leave with a good quality.
• After analysis, weighing tea bags can proceed.
 TEA WITHERING
• Withering - is an operation by which decrease the
quantity of water in the sheets of tea and to make these
tea leaves are more flexible. By withering, the leaves are
exposed to the hot air during several hours (15-18h) in
order to reduce by 30 to 50% of its moisture content.
• On arrival at the factory, tea leaves from the field is
weighed once again and spread onto special troughs for
withering.
• This process is helped by large fans pushing air through
tea leaves below. When tea leaves is flaccid it is ready
for further processing.  
Photo: withering processing of tea
• We make also ventilation continues on the leaves in
order to regulate their temperatures. This stage is used
to start the process of release the enzyme responsible
for the oxidation of the leaves (fermentation).
• It also causes the softening of the leaves which will be
able to thus support the following operations without
breaking.
• The leaves should not be broken or crushed, except for
specific types of tea where that could be made in a
precise and controlled way.
• Once the quantity of water reaches the standard, the
operation is stopped and tea is transported towards
the following stage
Percentage of Water= WL*100/ SL
Where, WL- withered leaves
SL- Sample leaves
Let’s notice that this percentage can be
different according to harvest system and the
tea plantations are coming from.
 
 TEA ROLLING
• The tea leaves are rolled up on themselves (with the
hand or mechanically), which allows essential oils to be
well spread and soak tea buds without crushing them.
• On these essential oils, it will depend mostly on the
flavour of tea.
• The withered leaf is passed through machines that cut,
tear and curl (CTC) into small particles.
• The finer the cut leaf the better pungency in the black
tea.
Photo: Machine for rolling of tea processing
• The tea in this case can be crossed by a
machine having different dimensions in
cutting system.
• Sometimes there are cases where sieves are
used.
• With sifting - the leaves are separate
according to their size and the smallest
continue directly to the following stage
whereas larger, the harder, undergoes the
second rolling or cutting.
 THE FERMENTATION OF TEA

• It is the chemical reaction of the tea leaves and

their components (polyphenols) occurs when met
with the air, moisture and heat.
• Crucial moment when are given tea flavor and the
color of tea.
• With this stage of the processus, there is a reaction
of oxidation on the tannis and polyphenols of tea by
the enzymatic action and consequently
condensation forms a change of color.
• From the rolling machines, the tea leaf is fed
into fermenting process where the colour
changes from green to coppery on the contact
with air.
• The process takes around 90minutes for the
continuing fermentation.
Photo : Discontinuing process of fermentation
• By fermentation, the color of tea passes from
green to brown one.
• If this stage is stopped too early, tea is
greenish and has a metal after-taste, while if it
is fermented too much, tea becomes warm
and loses in quality and flavour.
• Normally, exist continuous and discontinuous
fermentations according to the diagram and
the availability of the apparatuses of the
factory.
• For continued fermentation, it has been
realized that there is an handicape, in the case
can be required to make correction in the
process, whereas for discontinuous
fermentation, the portion which becomes
incorrect can be treated separately.
• The temperature is increased to 30-35oC at the
beginning and then make ventilation after
15minutes to keep the same temperature in
the process. More, temperature is increased,
more fermentation is faster.
 Relationship between Fermentation and
temperature

Temperature in the room Duration

< 15 2hours
15-17 1:55 min
17-18 1:50 min
18-20 1:45 min

Estimated and collected data of the Nyabihu Tea Factory in Rwanda

 For the oolong tea or mid-fermented tea, the
process is carried out more quickly and the color of
tea becomes less dark with tendency of a red color.
For a good fermentation of tea, we are interested
especially on:
• The temperature which varies between 21-26oC for
the good quality of liquor;
• Moisture since the oxidation occurs especially in
the presence of moisture;
• The judgment of fermentation by the color of tea
and liquor which results from it after infusion.
 DRYING OF TEA

From the fermenting units the tea leaf is passed into

the drying machines where hot air dries the teas to
3 % maximum and fortify the coloration into black.
• The drying of tea - This stage of processing fixes the
tea characteristics.
• The drying of tea leaves in the furnace stops
fermentation. This operation makes it possible to
stop the enzymatic actions and the reduction of
moisture in tea.
Photo: Furnace for tea drying
 Tea is brought in the furnace with a temperature of 21-
23oC and meets the hot air of 160oC. As the advances in
the furnace on the carpets which vibrate at the same
time. In the second part of the apparatus, the
temperature is tiny room until 100-130oC.
After this furnace, tea passes near the cyclone which
aspires fibers of tea, under a temperature of 70-80 oC.
With tea drying, which takes around 30minutes, the
moisture in tea passes from the 50-60% to 2, 5-3%.
• If it is insufficient (remains more than 12% of moisture),
tea risks to mildew.
• If it is excessive (remains less than 2 to 3% of moisture),
that produced tea without flavour because the elements
mainly remain insoluble.
 SORTING AND GRADING
• From the filling machines the tea is passed over pre-
sorters, sorters and stalk extractors to produce a variety of
grades. Tea leave is passed through a series of vibrating
wire meshes which produce the required grades according
to the demands of the tea markets.
• The black tea obtained after drying is a mixture of different
classes of tea. The teas are grade or separate according to
their sizes (ranks) of the grains.
• This operation also allows cooling them and aerating
properly. At the end of these stages, 100 kg of fresh leaves
will give around 20 kg of the black tea.
Photo: Grading process of tea
• The grading is necessary for separation of tea
grains according to the classes corresponding to
the price on tea market world.
• Before grading exist a sifting which is applied on
tea after drying in order to remove other remaining
fibers and all other particles with small density.
• The operation is realized on a machine which
makes a movement of vibration (shaking) and the
first types in class was recovered into the limp or
suitable cases from wooden.
 The advantage of the process is as follow:

• To clean the obtained tea;

• To remove the particles and the not-
fermented tea;
• To separate tea in different grades; first and
second class;
• To remove the foreign bodies if any.
 Classes and names of tea

Primary Grades: -Broken Pekoe one (BP1)

-Pekoe fanning one (PF1)
-Pekoe dust (PD)
-Dust one (D1)
Secondary grades: - Broken pekoe (BP)
-Pekoe fanning (PF)
-Dust two (D2)
-Dust (D)
-Fanning 1 (F1)
• The soluble tea is a black tea which
underwent the usual stages of production but
which even more is drained and could be
reduced into powder. This type of tea has
advantage to make easier tea setting in bags
and the export to the market.
• It is also ideal for the two great innovations of
the 20th century as regards the frozen tea and
the tea bags.  
 The sensory analysis in processed Tea

• The quality analysis by sensory evaluation is

done using human sense (eyes to see, nose for
smells, mouth for tasting attributes)..
• Following parameters are to be considered:
 Leaf appearance (grade size, graininess color,
presence of fibers);
 Liquor characteristics (Strength, briskness,
color);
 Infusion attributes (color and evenness).
 Green Tea processing
The process comprise the following operations:
– Withering - the leaves are put in large iron basins heated at
close to 100° Celsius during 20 to 30 seconds. This operation
makes allows to destroy the enzyme which could causes
fermentation. The reason why the leaves remain green. In
Japan, drying is done by exposing the leaves to the vapor.
– Rolling - As for the black tea, more tea leave is small and
rolled tight, more tea will be vigorous because its components
dissolved or escape more.
– Drying - It allows a certain evaporation of the water contained
in the leaves to prevent the mould.
– Sifting – it is the stage of the separation of the grades. Just like
for the black tea, it is carry out by means of sieve of various
gauges.
 The green tea composition
Components Minimum,% Maximum,%
Moisture content 3,42 9,8
Dries matters 45,2 56,6
Total ash 5,5 10,85
Soluble ash in water 2,3 4,3
Insoluble ash in water 1,8 7,75
Insoluble ash in HCl 0,3 3,73
Silicate 0,1 2,7
Tannin 3,98 13,35
Theine (Caffeine) 1,77 3,83
 THE GENERAL COMPONENTS OF BLACK TEA
Components Concentration (g/100g)
Tea Flavenols 6
Tea Phenolics acids 10
Tea carbohydrates 10
Tea proteins 0,8
The minerals 8
Tea volatiles compounds 0,05
Tea cathechins 3
Tea theaflavin 3
Tea thearubigins 12

The data are in percentages of dried matters

 PACKING

• The finished product of black sorted tea is

packed by grades into double strong papers
sacs lined with aluminium sheeting and white
paper, the average weight of each packed sacs
is around 70kg.
• Packing is also most important: The process
used during the packing of tea is important
because an expired tea or badly stored will lose
its flavour and its savour. Our tea is fresher
because that it is packed and exported in sealed
packing.
Photo: Packing of tea after processing
• The tea quality are stored in tropical wood
containers, metal of paper or paperboard. The easily
absorbs moisture and the odors surrounding,
therefore it is very necessary to make the
conservation of tea or storage in a dry place, far
away from the strong odors, preference safe from
the light.
• In Rwanda, majority of the factories make the
packing of the in paper bags using a suitable
machine and inside this bag, there is another
aluminium paper which fights any kind of reaction of
tea on papers, allows also closing more compact or
hermetic without moisture regaining tea and in this
case this last preserves its flavour and its freshness.
 Analysis of the tea quality
During the analysis at the Laboratory, we make an
observation on:
• The appearance of the infused tea, without presence of the
green leaves
• The color of the brilliance which resembles that of copper
• Odor of tea

On liquor, we interested especially more on:

• The Odor
• The color
• The Clarity
• The Dyeing and grinding
In a cup: Tasting of tea,…
 The importance of tea
The prepared tea use to:
• have 1/3 less caffeine contains than the one of coffee or
cola
• helps to reduce tiredness
• maintains mental vigilance
• stabilize the levels of body liquids
• do not have fat and calories
• The antioxidants contained in tea can help to prevent
cancers of the mouth, the stomach, the pancreas, the
lungs, the esophagus, the colon, the mammalians and
the prostate.
• The antioxidants in the cup of tea are equivalent to
those found in a vegetable portion.
The flavanoids can help to prevent the cardiac diseases in:
• reducing the blood clots;
• lowering the pressure ;
• reducing cholesterol .
A study led by the researchers of Harvard University showed
that people who use to consume one or more cups of tea per
day had 40% less risk of heart attack than those who did not
drink tea.
• Tea is a rare source of natural fluorine which delays the growth
of the oral bacteria and the enzymes responsible for the dental
plaque.
• In the contrary, the tea is a rich source of manganese necessary
to healthy bones and source of potassium which regularizes
the cardiac beats.
• Other vitamins and minerals found in the tea include the
vitamins B1, B2, B6, the folic acid and calcium.
 Quality of Tea

• Due to the high-elevated grounds where

Rwanda tea grows, its strength, bright colour,
brisk flavour and consistency in
manufacturing, Rwanda tea is renowned all
over the world as a superior tea.
• This excellent reputation is still acknowledged
by the international market, despite the
deterioration of the processed products which
occurred after 1994.
Factors contributing to the Unique Quality
of Rwanda Tea
• Nature has endowed Rwanda with the best ecological
conditions, making Rwanda Tea unique and consistent quality.
• Good acidic and volcanic soils as well as Climatic features lead
to quality tea growing especially in the mountains of western
and southern regions;
• No chemical used in Tea growing but limited amount of
fertilizers are added regularly to replenish soil nutrients;
•  Tea production in Rwanda goes on all year round;
• A combination of standard plucking of the upper two leaves and
a bud in the addition to standard CTC manufacturing make
Rwanda tea the most sought after beverage in the world;
•  Stable and encouraging political climate;
•  Very competitive on the international market.
Types of Rwandan Tea Quality
 Section3: THE COCOA PROCESSING
TECHNOLOGY
Description
• The cacao-tree is a tropical tree cultivated in a hot
and wet climate, mainly in the areas ranging
between 20 degrees north and south around the
equator.
• In spite of the fact that the principal outlet of cocoa
broad bean is the chocolate, there exists in fact 4
large by-products derived: the cocoa liquor and
paste, cocoa butter, cocoa oil cakes and cocoa
powder.
 THE COCOA
(Theobroma cocoa or Theobroma linne)
• The cacao-trees are small trees of underwoods to the
covered trunk of a fawn-coloured ecorse, furnished with
large and long leaves among which some, all young,
resemble to flowers of a tender pink contrasting with the
long fruit, bent and yellowish.
• These fruits resemble a rugby ball and many times make fold
the porous branches under their weights. The culture of the
cacao-tree requires a hot and wet climate and we especially
find them in the tropical countries and in West Africa.
• Preferably, the cacao-tree is cultivated between 400-700m
of altitudes and provides an output of cocoa 300-1000kg per
hectare. The cacao-tree can be harvest after 3-4 years and its
production could be prolonged to the duration of 50 years.
• The harvest of the cocoa is carried out each year
especially in July and December, when dent
green (fruits) get dressed with yellow color, clear
red.
• The harvest of the cocoa is carried out normally
using long a gauge to cross dent and to make
them fall down from the tree. The harvesters
lighten each dents and broad its beans which
they pile up in their baskets or the bags of jute.
Once the collection is finished, we bring broad
beans or fruits of the cocoa to the reserved place
of the transformation of these beans.
 Origin of cocoa
• The origin of the cocoa seems to be in the Amazonian, fascinating
basin birth in Central America and more particularly in Mexico in
the island of Yucatan and in the basins of the Orenoque.
• Autochtones such Mayas and Azteques used already cacao as
currency of exchange and consumed a bitter drink from cacao
called “the xocoalt”.
• The cocoa was then known under the evocative heading of food
of the gods (thus inspiring the scientific name of the cacao-tree "
theobroma cocoa ", theobroma meaning food of the gods in
Latin).
• When Christophe Colomb discovered cocoa broad beans in
America, their popularity did not gain rapidly the Europe; it’s get
known only in 1524 , when Hernando Cortez forwarded the first
cocoa cargo to the emperor Charles Quint.
• By heating the mixture, the Spanish used to add sugar
cane and a little vanilla to improve the taste for using
this beverage at essentially therapeutic purpose.
• They will preserve however secret, the receipt of the
chocolate preparation more than century, until the
wedding ceremony of the girl of the Spain king with
the king of France Louis XIII in 1615.
• The invention in 1828, of the hydraulic press to extract
the cocoa butter as well as the settling from the
manufacturing process of the solid chocolate and with
milk by the Swiss ones (in the neighborhoods of 1879)
are regarded as the principal projections having
influenced the development of the sector current
chocolate seller.
• The cacao-tree is characterized by a right stem, a clear
wood of white color and a brown, fine and smooth bark.
The fruit, dents with a size from 15 to 25 centimeters
contains approximately 30 to 40 seeds which, when dried
and fermented, are known under the name of cocoa
broad beans.
• These last, a brown external appearance with reddish, are
covered with white envelope.
• The ideal conditions with the production are
characterized by the precipitations ranging between 1150
and 2500 millimeters per annual, a temperature varying
between 21°C to 32°C, one season dries lower than 3
months and a deep ground, rich in organic matter.
• There exist three varieties of cocoa. The most
widespread is that commonly called Forastero. Rather
bitter, it accounts for approximately 90% of the
worldwide production of cocoa broad beans and is
mainly cultivated in West Africa and in Brazil.
• The second type is known under the name of Criollo.
Giving broad beans of the " type; fine cocoa " , its
importance decreased but it is still present in the
Caribbean, the Antilles, in Venezuela, in New Guinea,
in Sri Lanka, in Timor Oriental and in Indonesia.
• The last category is Trinitario, an hybrid between
Criollo and Forastero, have a rather fine but not very
intense flavour.
 Culture of the cocoa

• In the fact that dent could be mature and harvested

throughout the year, the two harvests (called principal
harvest and intermediate harvest) are generally undertaken
by cycle.
• Intermediate harvest being often much more modest than the
principal one. However, their importance vary according to
the countries. The period of maturation for the dents, of
fecundation to harvest, takes approximately 5 to 6 months.
The collection of the fruits of the cacao-tree consists of the
action to divide the stalk of generally dents (with the use of a
machete) and then extracting broad beans from dents.
• These last are then fermented about 2 to 8 days and then
could put on sun for drying; After this operation, the broad
beans are packed in bags and transported to the further
processors.
• The cocoa culture is generally done with the hands of
small producers cultivating less than 5 hectares or
modest family exploitations.
• However, there also exists of great fields and broad
plantations in countries like Malaysia or Brazil.
• The cacao-trees are usually planted in spaced lines of
approximately 3 meters, where an average density
ranging between 950 and 1330 cacao-trees per
hectare.
• However, this situation can vary in an important way
according to the countries, the fertility of the ground
and the climate.
• The pathogenic climatic conditions and risks
are the exogenic independent factors
influencing the production.
• It is estimated approximately 30% of the
worldwide production are affected by the
various diseases, insects, mushrooms and
parasites of the cocoa.
• Most known are the black rot, the brush of
witch and the oedemas of the growths.
• In fact, the period of maturity of the cocoa seedlings
are estimated approximately two years, but the cacao-
trees become productive 5 to 6 years after their
plantation.
• The outputs are with their maximum in the
neighborhoods from 8 to 10 years, the productivity
being able to remain relatively high during several
decades.
• In normal circumstances the average outputs of the
cultivated cacao-trees in a traditional way vary
between 300 and 500 kg per hectare, but the hybrid
species can obtain results higher than 1000kg per
hectare.
Cocoa fruit
cacao pod showing the outer rind, the seeds and
inner pulpd inner pulp
Steps involved in Harvesting techniques of Cocoa
 The Quality of the cocoa
• There exist two categories of cocoa broad beans: More
than 90% of the production is regarded as ordinary cocoa
resulting mainly from the forastero variety coming from
West Africa countries and Brazil.
• The fine cocoas have for their parts a distinct flavour, very
snuffed by processors or crushers.
• The latter is account for approximately 5% of the
worldwide production.
• The international standards on the cocoa take into account
only the cocoa fermented after one period of drying, in so
far as the product is without taste of fumigation, strange or
abnormal odors and apparent sign of deterioration.
• It is also desirable that the broad beans are
relatively uniform and homogeneous.
Moreover, they should not contain fragments
of hull, nor to be broken or attacked by the
insects.
• The international reference for the standards
of quality on the cocoa is originated from
Ghana. Based on the test with the cut, the
product is sorted according to the number of
defective broad beans.
Quality I (Grade I):
• Mildewed broad beans, maximum 3% per test;
• Slate-coloured broad beans maximum 3% per test;
• Broad beans punts, germinated or attacked by the
insects, maximum total of 3% per test.
Quality II (Grade II):
• Mildewed broad beans, maximum 4% per test;
• Slate-coloured broad beans maximum 8% per test;
• Broad beans punts, germinated or attacked by the
insects, maximum total of 3% per test.
Broad beans of Cocoa
Selection of cocoa beans
 African country cocoa production
• West Africa collectively supplies two thirds of
the world's cocoa crop, with Ivory Coast
leading production at 1.8 million tonnes as of
2017, and nearby Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon
and Togo producing additional 1.55 million
tonnes.
 The sector of usage
• The cocoa broad beans are a source of receipt in
export for many countries which can market the
gross product (broad beans), its derivatives
(liquor, paste, butter, oil cakes and powder) and
the finished product: chocolate.
• Even if the chocolate remains the most important
outlet for cocoa broad beans, there exists
however of many markets " niches " for certain
intermediate products such as butter and powder.
• The latter for example is used so that to aromatize
biscuits, the ice creams and the dairy products.
• Apart from the aromatic compounds, it is also
employed by the industry in pastry making, the
confectionery and the preparation of lacteous or
different drinks.
• Also beside its characterized traditional use by
the chocolate confection industry, the cocoa
butter is also snuffed in the manufacture of
tobacco, soap and cosmetics.
• At the therapeutic level, it is also known in
traditional medicine like a remedy looking after
the burns, cold, dried lips, fevers, malaria,
rheumatisms, bites of snakes and other wounds.
 Production on market

• The cocoa is cultivated mainly in West Africa,

in Latin America and Asia. The eight larger
cocoa producer countries are now, in the
decreasing order:
The Ivory coast; Ghana; Indonesia; Nigeria;
Brazil; Cameroun; Equator and Malaysia.
• In all these countries, they account for 90% of
the worldwide production.
Principal cocoa broad bean producer countries
(2002)
Cocoa producer’s country 2015
 Consumption and uses
• If the cocoa is very largely produced in the developing countries,
the derivative products are mainly consumed in the industrialized
countries.
• For broad beans, the purchasers of these countries are primarily
the chocolate industry of transformation and confection industry.
• A handle of multinationals of important size controls the
transformation and the confection industry of chocolate.
• The graph below represents the principal cocoa consumers;
estimates being based on the apparent domestic consumption
which takes into account crushings as well as the net imports of
cocoa derivative products included there the products chocolate
sellers (equivalent out of cocoa broad beans).
Consumption level in 2014
Country levels in consumption 2017
Biggest countries in consumption
The principal cocoa consumers
 The Technology of the Cocoa
• Although dependent, the transformation of the cocoa and
the manufacture of the chocolate are different processes.
• The first phase of the transformation of the cocoa consists
in converting broad beans into cocoa grains, then in paste,
butter, oil cake and powder.
• The second phase the paste or butter is mixed and refined
with the other ingredients such as milk and sugar.
• Before beginning the transformation from broad beans,
these last must be cleaned and free from any foreign body.
• The broad beans can then be roasted before or after the
hull is not removed.
• In general, the manufacturers of confectioneries
prefer the first method whereas the factories of
transformation prefer the second particularly.
• When the broad beans were roasted and the
removed hull, the cocoa grains are then reduced in
still called paste pure cocoa paste or mass of cocoa.
• The latter is refined in very small particles when
transformed into butter or oil cake and coarser
elements for the chocolate.
• The mass is purified by the intermediary a hydraulic
press which eliminates part of butyric greases to
produce a cocoa paste with butter free, the cocoa oil
cake.
• The oil cake is grated in a fine powder which is
mainly used by the manufacturers of
confectioneries. Butter is generally mixed with the
mass and sugar for the manufacture of the
chocolate.
• The refining of the chocolate is done while carrying
the mixture at a temperature given so that to
obtain, by prolonged friction and mixing, a marrowy
and consistent paste ready to be used in chocolate
factory.
• This process known under the term of conchage can
take between one half-day to three days.
 On the farmers level
• The broad beans are sorted, cleaned and put to ferment on the
spot during 4-6 days in wooden cases covered with banana leaves
in order to begin the development of the flavour in broad beans;
• This preliminary fermentation allows the liquefaction of pulp
surrounding these broad beans;
• Normally alcoholic pulp is transformed into vinegar;
• In this case, we stop fermentation and make the cleaning of broad
beans, at the same time we change the cases to aerate the broad
beans and to set out again uniformly oxygen in broad beans;
• A bad fermentation will give to the chocolate a taste astrigent and
an unpleasant land-mark;
• The broad beans are dried on the sun during 3 days or in
a suitable furnace;
• After that we make cleaning by separating black broad
beans with the others to keep the good quality of the
end product;
• Those chosen, can be treated with the hot air in order to
make them resistant on the long distances of voyage
towards the processing industries;
• The broad beans punts or malingers without success, will
be intended for the use in the powder and cocoa butter,
whereas the other good dodue are packed in bag and be
dispatched to the big Masters roasters of the chocolate
factory as it is done in the coffee processing.
 On the industrial level
• Each type of cocoa obliges the roasters to graduate the time of
the process and the temperature or degree of heat. Once
roasting is not correct, the chocalate can take a perfume
“Cramé”;
• Then the broad beans continue the process of crushing and/or
separate the seed of the hull;
• During crushing, the remains also are removed, the seeds are
transformed until obtaining the crane, the bitter paste of the
cocoa;
• If crushing is too large, the chocolate will be granulous;
• Under heat and the pressure, the cocoa releases its greases and
the flavour believes, at the same time the bitterness decreases;
• The stage of kneading consists with the
incorporation of the cocoa butter and sugar.
• For the bitter chocolate, proportioning does not
exceed more than 40% of sugar;
• We arrive at the stage of the “Conchage”, a hot
mixing during all the day under a temperature of
80oC. This process can take 5days, for the
manufacture of the chocolates of luxury and fine
chocolates;
• The crystallization of butter by heating brings to
the chocolate all its brightness and it is with the
color that the quality of the cocoa is judged.
 Fight against the diseases
The researchers explore several ways:
• The chemical fighters produces many constraints like the cost of the
products, the labour and the processors, the frequency of the
applications, pollution, the toxicity of the pesticides, etc.
• This is why the scientists move towards the research for more
tolerant varieties by developing early, fast and reliable tests,
allowing to identify the most resistant cacao-trees;
• For that reason, we can in particular put in contact the cacao-trees
and the disease-causing agent (the mushroom), then to observe
how the injection develops;
• Associated with the other existing methods of fighting and a very
good knowledge of the parasites, the diffusion of resistant varieties
will allow it, development of an “integrated” control known as of the
diseases, more “clean” and less expensive.
 In vitro culture to multiply the trees
resistant to the diseases
• When interesting trees are identified, it becomes necessary to
multiply them in great number and to distribute them to the
producers to contribute to the improvement of the outputs. For
that, there is recourse to the vegetative multiplication or
cloning.
• Several traditional horticultural techniques are used like the
propagation by cutting or the grafting.
• Tests are in hand to develop a technique in vitro fast
multiplication by somatic embryogenesis.
• It consists in obtaining embryos starting from vegetative fabrics
(leaves, flower, stem…) plant which we wish to multiply.
• At the cacao-tree, it is still at the stage of
research. First seedlings resulting from
somatic embryos were already produced.
• The objective is now to increase the potential
of multiplication.
 Section 4:
SUGARCANE PROCESSING TECHNOLOGY
History:
• Before the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, sugarcane was
harvested on the shores of the Bay of Bengal; it spread
to the surrounding territories of malasia, indonesia,
and southern China.
• The arabic people introduced “Sugar “ (at that point a
Sticky paste, Semi-crystallized and believed to have
medical value) to the western world by bringing both
the need and knowledge for its cultivation to Sicily and
then Spain in the eight and nine centuries.
 History (Cont.)
• Later, Venice- importing finished sugar from
Alexandria- succeeded in establishing a
monopoly over this new spice by 15th century,
at that point, it started buying raw sugar, and
even sugarcane, and treating it in its own
refineries. Venice’s monopoly, however, was
short-lived. In 1498, Portuguese navigator
Vasco da Gama returned from india bringing
the sweet flavoring to Portugal.
 History (cont.)
• Lisbon started to import and refine raw sugar,
and, in the 16th century, it became the
European sugar capital. It was not long before
the sweetener was available in France, where
its primary function continued to be medicinal,
and during the reign of Louis XIV, sugar could
be bought by once at the apothecary. By the
1800s, sugar (though still expensive) was widely
available to both upper and middle classes.
 2. Raw material
• Sugar is a broad term applied to a large number of
carbohydrates present in many plants and characterized by a
more or less sweet taste. lasses..
• The primary sugar, glucose, is a product of photosynthesis and
occurs in all green plants. In most plants, the sugars occur as a
mixture that can not readily be separated into the components.
• In the sap of some plants, the sugar mixtures are condensed into
syrup, Juice of sugarcane (Saccharum efficinarum ) and sugar
beet (Beta vulgaris) are rich in pure sucrose, although beet
sugar is generally much less sweet that cane sugar. These two
sugars crops are the main sources of commercial sucrose.
 Raw material (cont.)
• The Sugarcane is a thick, tall, perennial grass that flourishes
in tropical or subtropical regions. Sugar synthetized in the
leaves is used as source of energy for growth or is sent to the
stalks for storage. It is the sweet sap in the stalks that is the
source of sugar as we know it
• The need accumulates sugar to about 15% of its weight
sugarcane yields about 2,600,000 tones of sugar per year.
• The sugar beet is beetroot variety with the highest sugar
content, for which, it is specifically cultivated. While typically
white both inside and out, some beet varieties have black or
yellow skins.
• About 3,7000,000 tons of sugar are manufactured from sugar
beet.
Sugar cane plantation
Sugar beet
 Raw material (cont.)
• Others sugar crop include Sweet sorghum, sugar maple,
honey, and corn sugar. The types of sugar used today are
white sugar (fully refined sugar), composed of clear,
colorless or crystal fragments, or brown sugar, which is
less fully refined and contains a greater amount of
treacle residue, from which it obtains to color.
• Sugarcane is broadly classified into three varieties: early,
general and unapproved.
• Cane is sowed during February and October every year.
The first seed growth is known as the plant and
subsequent growth after harvesting from the stem is
known as Ratoon.
 Raw material (cont.)
• The early variety has more sugar content than
the general variety.
• Cane is weighted using an electronic
weighbridge and unloaded into can carriers. It
is then prepared for milling by knives and
shredders. Sugarcane juice is then extracted
by pressing the prepared cane through mills.
 3. Preparation and processing
• The Sugar cane are transported to the refinery, after
the cane arrives at the mill yards, it is mechanically
unloaded, and excessive soil and rocks are removed.
• The cane are cleaned by flooding the carrier with the
warm water (in the case of sparse rock and trash
cluter) or by spreading the cane on agitating
conveyors that pass through stoning jets of water
and combing drums (to remove larger amount of
rocks, trash, and leaves, etc..,)
• At this point the can is clean and ready to be milled.
Preparation and processing (cont.)

• For beet sugar: When the beets also are

delivered at the refinery, they are first washed
and then cut into strips.
• Next, they are put into diffusion cells with
water at about 79.4oC and sprayed with hot
water counter currently to remove sucrose.
Sugar processing scheme
 3.1. Juice extraction pressing

Two or three heavily grooved crusher rollers break the cane

and extract a large part of juice or swing-hurmmer type
shredders and shred the cane without extracting the juice.
Revolving knives cutting the stalks into chips are
supplementary to the crushers (in most countries, the
shredder proceeds the crusher) .
A combination of two, or even all three, methods may be
used. The pressing process involves crushing the stalks
between the heavy and grooved metal rollers to separate
the fiber (bagasse) from the juice that contains the sugar.
 Juice extraction (cont.)
• During this process, as the can is crushed, hot water (or a
combination of hot water and recovered impure juice) is sprayed
into the crushed cane counter currently as it leaves each mill for
diluting. The extracted juice called Vesou, contains 95% or more
of sucrose present.
• The mass is then diffused, a process that involves finely cutting of
shredding the stalks.
• Next, the sugar is separated from the cut stalks by dissolving it in
hot water or hot juice.
• Extracted juice mixed with water is weighed and send to the
boiling house for further processing. The residual bagasse is sent
to boilers fro use as fuel for steam generation.
 Juice extraction (cont.)

• Sugarcane processing is focusing on the production of

sugarcane (sucrose) from sugarcane. The other products of
processing include bagasse, molasses and the filter cake.
• Bagasse, the residual woody fiber of the cane, it is used for
several purposes: like fuel for boilers and lime kilns,
production of numerous paper and paperboard products
and reconstituted panel board, agricultural mulch, and as
a raw material for production of chemicals.
• Bagasse and bagasse residue are primarily used as a fuel
source for boilers in generation of processes steam. Thus,
bagasse is renewable resource.
 Juice extraction (cont.)
• Dried filter cake is used as an animal feed supplement,
fertilizer, and source of sugarcane wax.
• Molasses is produced in two forms: inedible for humans
(blackstrap) or as an edible syrup.
• Blackstrap molasses is used primarily as an animal feed
additive but also is used to produce ethanol, compressed
yeast, citric acid, and rum.
• Edible molasses syrups are often blends with maple syrup,
invert sugars or corn syrup.
• Sugarcane is produced and harvested for two purposes
production of cane sugar and used for subsequent plantings.
 3.2. Purification of Juice
Clarification and evaporation
• After being purified, the clear juice undergoes vacuum
evaporation to remove most of water.
• In this process, four vacuum-boiling cells are arranged in
series so that each succeeding cell has a higher vacuum
• The vapors from one body can thus boil the juice in the next
one, a method called multiple-effect evaporation.
• Next, the syrupy solution is vacuum-crystalized to form sugar
crystals.
• The remaining liquid is removed using centrifuging and drying
and the sugar is packaged.
 3.2.1. Clarification
• The juice from the mills has a dark green color, is acidic and
turbid.
• The clarification (defecation) process is designed to remove
both soluble and insoluble impurities (such sand, soil and
ground rock) that have not been removed by preliminary
screening.
• The process employs lime and heat as the clarifying agents.
Milk of lime (about one pound per ton of cane) neutralizes
the natural acidity of the juice, forming insoluble lime salts.
• Heating the lime juice to boiling point, coagulates the albumin
and some of the fats, waxes, gums and the formed
precipitates entraps suspended solids as well as the minute
particles.
 Clarification (cont.)

• The sugar beets solution on the other hand, is purified by

precipitating calcium carbonate, calcium sulfite or both in it
repeatedly.
• Impurities become entangled in growing crystals of precipitate
and are removed by continuous filtration.
• The muds is separated from the clear juice through
sedimentation.
• The non-sugar impurities are removed by continuous filtration.
• The final clarified juice contains about 85% of water and has
the same composition as the raw extracted juice except for the
removed impurities.
 Clarification (cont.)

• To concentrate this clarified juice, about 2/3 of the water is

removed through vacuum evaporation.
• Generally, four vacuum-boiling cells or bodies are arranged in
series so that each succeeding body has a higher vacuum
(and therefore boils at a lower temperature is done).
• The vapors from one body can thus boil the juice in the next
one – the steam introduced into the first cell does what is
called multiple- effect evaporation.
• The vapor from the last cell, therefore, goes to a condenser.
• The syrup leaves the last body continuously with about 65%
of solids and 35% of water.
 Clarification (cont.)

NB: The sugar beet sucrose solution, at this point, is also nearly
colorless, and it likewise undergoes multiple- effect
evaporation. Then, the syrup is seeded, cooled and putted in
the centrifuge machine. The finished beet crystals are washed
with water and dried.
• The clear juice is evaporated to a syrup stage, bleached by
sulphur dioxide and then sent to vacuum pans for further
concentration. And sugar grain formation appeal.
• Crystals are developed to a desired size and the crystallization
mass is then dropped in the crystallizers to exhaust the
mother liquor of its sugar as much as possible.
• This is then centrifuged for separating the crystals from
molasses. The molasses is re-boiled for further crystallization.
 3.2.2. Evaporation process

Evaporation process is performed in two stages:

• Initially in an evaporator station to concentrate the juice;
• Then, in vacuum pans to crystallize the sugar.
• The clarified juice is passed through heat exchangers to
preheat the juice and then to evaporator stations.
• Evaporator stations consist of series of evaporators,
termed multi-effect evaporators. Typically a series of five
evaporators.
• Steam from large boilers is used to heat the first
evaporator, and the steam from the water evaporated in
the first evaporator is used to heat the second evaporator.
 Evaporation (cont.)

• This heat transfer process continues through the five evaporators and
as the temperature decreased (due to heat loss) from evaporator to
another one, the pressure inside each evaporator also decreases which
allows the juice to boil at lower temperatures in subsequent
evaporator.
• Some steam is released from the first three evaporators, and this
steam is used in various process heaters in the plant.
• The evaporator station in cane sugar manufacture typically produces a
syrup with about 65% of solids and 35% of water.
• Following evaporation, the syrup is clarified by adding lime, phosphoric
acid, and a polymer flocculent, aerated, and filtered in the clarifier.
• From clarifier, the syrup goes to the vacuum pans for crystallization.
 3.3. Crystalization
• The process of crystallization is the next step in manufacturing of sugar
after evaporation.
• Crystallization takes place in a single- stage vacuum pan. The syrup is
evaporated until saturated with sugar.
• As soon as the saturation point has been exceeded, small gains of
sugar are added to the pan, or “Strike”. These small grains called
Seed, serve as nucleic for the formation of sugar crystals.. Normally
the seed grain is formed by adding 1,600grams of white sugar into the
bowl of a slurry machine and mixing with 3.3 parts of a liquid mixture :
means 70% of methylated spirit and 30%of glycerin.
• The machine runs at 200RPM for 15hours. Additional syrup is added to
the strike and evaporated so that the original crystals that were
formed are allowed to grow in size.
 Crystalization (cont.)

• The growth of the crystals continues until the pan is

full. When sucrose concentration reaches the
desired level, the dense mixture of syrup and sugar
crystals, called mossecuite, is discharged into large
containers known as crystalizers. Crystalization
continues in the crystalizers as the massecuite is
slowly stirred and cooled.
• The massacuite from the mixers in allowed to flow
into centifugals, where the thick syrup or molasses, is
separated form the raw sugar by centrifugal force.
 Crystalization (cont.)

• Crystallization of sugar starts in the vacuum pans, whose

function is to produce sugar crystals from syrup. In the pan
boiling process, the syrup is evaporated until it reaches the
supersaturating stage.
• At this point, the crystallization process is initiated by “seeding”
or “Shocking” the solution. When the volume of the mixture of
liquor and crystals, known as “massacuite”, reaches the
capacity of the pan, the evaporation is allowed to process until
the final massacuite is formed. At this point also, the contents
of the vacuum pans called ‘Strike” are discharged to the
crystalizer, whose function is to maximize the sugar crystal
removal from massacuite.
 Crystalization (cont.)

• Some mills companies seed the vacuum pans with

isopropyl alcohol and ground sugar or other similar
seeding agent, rather than with crystals from the process.
• From the crystalizer, the massecuite is transferred to high-
speed centrifugal machines called centrifugals, in which
the mother liquor called “molasses” is centrifuged to the
outer shell and the crystals remain in the inner centrifugal
basket.
• The crystals are washed with water and the wash water
centrifuged from crystals.
 Crystalization (cont.)
• The liquor from the first centrifugal is returned to a vacuum pan
and re-boiled to yield a second massecuilte, that one in turn yield
a second batch of crystals.
• The second batch of massecuite is transformed to the crystalizer
and then centrifugal, and the sugar is separated from molasses.
• This raw sugar is combined with the first crop of crystals. The
molasses from the second boiler is of much lower purity than the
first molasses. It is also re-boiled to form a low grade massecuite,
which goes to a crystalizer and then to the centrifugal. This is a
low grade cane sugar which is mangled with syrup and it is
sometimes used in the vacuum pans as a seeding solution.
 Crystalization (cont.)

• The final molasses from the third stage (blackstrap

molasses) is heavy, viscous material used primarily as
supplement in cattle feed.
• The cane sugar from the combined massecuites is
dried in fluidized bed or spouted bed driers and then
cooled.
• After cooling, the cane sugar is transferred to packing
bins and then sent to bulk storage.
• Cane sugar is then generally bulk loaded to tracks, rall
cars or barges.
 Crystalization

• Thus, the original syrup is desugarised progressively

(normally 3times) till finally, a viscous liquid is obtained
from which sugar can no longer be recovered economically.
• This liquid, which is called final molasses , it sent to the
distillery for making alcohol.
• The sugar thus is separated from molasses in the centrifuge
and is dried, bagged (into 50kg and 100kg), weighed and
sent to store houses.
• Sugar is made in different sizes and accordingly classified
into various grades like large, medium and small.
 3.4. Centrifuging
• The high-speed centrifugal action used to separate the
massecuite into raw sugar crustals and molasses and is done in
revolving machines called centrifugals.
• A centrifugal machine has a cylindrical basket suspended on a
spindle, with perforated sides lined with wire cloth, inside which
are metal sheets containing 400 to 600 perforations per squre
meter.
• The basket revolves at speeds from 1000 to 1800 RPM.
• The raw sugar is retained in the centrifuge basket because the
perforated lining retains the sugar crystals. The mother liquor
(molasses) passes through the lining due to the centrifugal force
exerted.
 Centrifuging (Cont)

• The final molasses (blackstrop molasses) containing

sucrose, reducing sugars, organic non-sugars, ash and
water, is sent to large store tanks.
• Once the sugar is centrifuged, it is “Cut down” and sent
to a granulator to drying.
• In more countries producing sugarcane, it is processed
in small factories without the use of centrifuges, and a
dark-brown products is produced.
• Centrifugal sugar is produced in more than 60 countries
while non-centrifugal sugar is in about 20 countries
 4. Drying and packing
• The 12 damp sugar crystals are dried by being
tumbled through heated air in a granulator.
• The dry sugar crystals are then sorted by size
through vibrating screens and placed into
storage bins.
• Sugar is then sent to the packed in the familiar
packaging we see in grocery stores, in bulk
packaging or in liquid form for industrial use.
 5. By product of sugar
• The bagasse produced after extracting the juice
from sugar cane is used as fuel to generate steam
in factories.
• Increasingly large amounts of bagasse are being
made into paper, insulating board and hardboard,
as well as furfural, a chemical intermediate for the
synthesis of furan and tetrahydrofuran.
• The beet tops and extracted slices as well the
molasses are used as feed for cattle.
• It has been shown that more feed for cattle and
other such animals can be produced per acre-year
from beets that form any other crop widely grown.
 Byproduct of sugar (cont.)

• The beet strips are also treated chemically to

facilitate the extraction of commercial pectin.
• The end product derived from sugar refining is
blackstrap molasses.
• It is used in cattle feed as well as in the
production of industrial alcohol, yeast, organic
chemicals and rum.
6.Quality control in sugar industry
• The mill sanitation is an important factor in quality control
measures. Bacteriologists have shown that a small amount of
sour bagasse can infect the whole team of warm juice flowing
over it.
• Modern mills have self-cleaning trough with a slope designed in
such a way that bagasse does not hold up but flows out with
the juice stream.
• Strict measures are taken for insect and pest controls.
• It has been noted that cane spoils relatively quickly, great steps
have been taken to automate the methods of transportation
and get the cane to the mills as quickly as possible.
 Quality control (cont.)

• Maintaining the high quality of the end-

product means storing brown and yellow
refined sugars (which contain 2-5% of
moisture) in cool and relatively moist
atmosphere, so that they continue to retain
the moisture and do not become hard.
• Most granulated sugars comply with standards
established by national standards board..
Thanks!!