Dry caustic peeling of tree fruit for liquid waste reduction

Laboratory scale experiments in a 2 ton/hour experimental unit with peaches, pears, and apricots demonstrated that peel softened by hot solutions of sodium hydroxide can be removed efficiently by a series of rotating rubber discs. The quality of the peeled fruit prepared with the experimental unit compared favorably with fruit peeled in the conventional manner by commercial equipment, while peeling losses for all three fruits in the experimental unit were the same or slightly lower than those resulting from commercial peeling. During experimental peeling of peach halves, volume of wastewater discharged was 34.5 gallons per ton of pitted peaches as compared to 547 gallons per ton for conventional commercial peeling.