JP2005046116A - Method for treating organic vegetable and apparatus therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method and an apparatus for treating organic vegetables (grown without using agrochemicals and chemical fertilizers) in which, even if the organic vegetables are nonstandardized organic vegetables having uneven shapes and size, commercial values thereof can be enhanced and organic resources can effectively be utilized and smoothness of process treatment can be practiced in the distribution process. <P>SOLUTION: The method and the apparatus for treating organic vegetables comprise a cut treating means 11 for cutting nonstandardized organic vegetables and a processing means for carrying out various process treatments. The processing means comprises a means 13 for carrying out low temperature cooling treatment of the cut vegetables, a means 12 for carrying out drying treatment and a means 14 for carrying out heat treatment. The process schedule successively operated from a processing means producing the cut vegetables having large demand of consumers is prepared and the process treatments are carried out based on the process schedule, and an energy recovery means (biomass plant) 22 for recovering energy from biomass composed of process residue of the cut vegetables and wet refuse after consuming cut vegetables is provided and the energy is utilized by the process means. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to processing of non-standard products that are irregular in size and shape among organic vegetables, and in particular, to improve the commercial value of non-standard organic vegetables and to facilitate the distribution of organic vegetables, and to improve energy efficiency. The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for treating organic vegetables.

  In recent years, the effects of environmental hormones due to the use of chemical pesticides, chemical fertilizers, etc. have been greatly sought, and the demand for organic vegetables grown without using these has been increasing year by year. Organic vegetables are vegetables that are naturally cultivated in soils of animal and plant matter and microorganisms, without using agricultural chemicals or chemical fertilizers, and are safe and nutritious without adversely affecting the environment and the human body. It is generally spreading as a high-priced and delicious vegetable.

  However, organic vegetables do not use pesticides or chemical fertilizers, so many vegetables with irregular shapes and sizes are harvested. Such non-standard organic vegetables were usually sorted after collection and discarded as agricultural waste.

  On the other hand, with the recent diversification of eating habits and the development of a nuclear family as a vegetable distribution method, the demand for cut vegetables having convenience and simplicity is increasing rapidly. In general, it is known that respiration increases when a plant tissue is cut, and browning, wilting and discoloration of the cut surface easily occur. For this reason, the cut surface affects the quality retention effect of the cut vegetables, and causes a shortening of the quality retention time.

In general, the causes of rot and alteration of vegetables include rot caused by the propagation of harmful microorganisms, deterioration due to self-action of enzymes contained in vegetables, and the like. Therefore, when vegetables are shipped to the market, especially in foods that are easily deteriorated and spoiled, such as cut vegetables, various processings are performed in order to improve storage stability.
For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-29055 (Patent Document 1) discloses a method of cooling cut vegetables to 4 ° C. or less, washing them under low temperature conditions, sterilizing dehydration, etc. in order to maintain the freshness of the cut vegetables Yes.

JP-A-8-116865 (Patent Document 2) discloses a method in which vegetables after cutting are sterilized by heating with saturated steam under pressure and then heated with superheated steam or aseptic hot air.
In addition, by applying treatment such as spray drying and hot air drying to vegetables, it is possible to instantaneously remove moisture essential for the activity of enzymes contained in vegetables and bring them to a state with low water activity without alteration. It is known that the freshness of vegetables can be maintained for a long time.

JP 2001-29055 A JP-A-8-116865

As mentioned above, organic vegetables, for which demand has been increasing in recent years, do not use pesticides or chemical fertilizers, and are not uniform in shape and size. Was actually discarded.
Conventionally, as in Patent Documents 1 and 2, various techniques have been proposed for the purpose of improving the quality of foods including cut vegetables and extending the shelf life of cut vegetables. Have not been proposed for efficient production or efficient use of these organic resources, and there is a need for technology that efficiently collects, processes and ships organic vegetables. It has been.
Therefore, in view of the problems of the conventional technology, the present invention can increase the commercial value of non-standard organic vegetables with irregular shapes and sizes, and enables effective use of organic resources. It is an object of the present invention to provide an organic vegetable processing method and apparatus capable of improving the efficiency of distribution flow including smoothing of processing in the distribution process.

Therefore, in order to solve such problems, the present invention is an organic vegetable processing method including a processing step for performing various processings for preventing deterioration and spoilage after a cut processing step for cutting nonstandard organic vegetables. And
The processing step includes a step of low-temperature cooling the cut vegetables after the cut treatment, a step of drying the cut vegetables, and a step of heat-treating the cut vegetables, and these processing steps are cut vegetables. Is selected as appropriate according to the type of
Create a processing schedule that operates sequentially from the processing process with a short quality retention period of cut vegetables after processing and perform processing based on this,
In the said process, the energy collect | recovered from the biomass which consists of the processing residue of the said cut vegetables and the garbage after consumption of cut vegetables is utilized.

In addition, after the cut processing step of cutting non-standard organic vegetables, it is a processing method of organic vegetables provided with processing steps for performing various processing for preventing deterioration and decay,
The processing step includes a step of low-temperature cooling the cut vegetables after the cut treatment, a step of drying the cut vegetables, and a step of heating the cut vegetables. Depending on the type,
Create a processing schedule that operates sequentially from the processing process to produce cut vegetables with great consumer demand and perform processing based on this,
In the said process, the energy collect | recovered from the biomass which consists of the processing residue of the said cut vegetables and the garbage after consumption of cut vegetables is utilized.

Furthermore, in these inventions, it is preferable that the biomass is subjected to methane fermentation to generate methane gas, and the methane gas is used in the processing step.
The non-standard organic vegetables are organic vegetables with different shapes and sizes that are selected from organic vegetables that can be shipped as products with shapes and sizes. In general, organic vegetables refer to crops that have been cultivated using fertilizers such as compost in fields that have not used pesticides or chemical fertilizers for more than three years.

  According to these inventions, even organic vegetables from which many non-standard products are harvested by not using agricultural chemicals or chemical fertilizers can be obtained by applying the various processing treatments to the non-standard products before shipping. Can add value to non-standard organic vegetables that could only be disposed of or sold at a low price, and can improve product value and demand. Moreover, by collecting the biomass and using it as an energy source, the amount of waste can be reduced, and an energy source can be secured without introducing energy from the outside, and a closed system can be obtained. Needless to say, the energy using the biomass is environmentally friendly energy and contributes to global warming and depletion of energy resources.

In addition, after cutting the harvested organic vegetables, it is a processing method of organic vegetables that performs various processing for preventing deterioration and decay, and ships the processed cut vegetables,
Collect non-standard product data including the amount of non-standard product collected from the organic vegetables,
Create a processing schedule in the processing according to the non-standard product data and the quality retention time limit data or consumption demand data of the cut vegetables after processing,
In the processing, at least one of a low-temperature cooling process, a drying process, and a heating process for cut vegetables is selected based on the schedule.

  In this way, the processing schedule is based on non-standard product data such as the amount of non-standard goods collected, the quality retention date data of each cut vegetable according to the vegetable type and its processing method, and consumption demand data such as consumer demand. By making this, processing can be performed efficiently and smoothly without wastefully producing cut vegetables.

Furthermore, as an invention of an apparatus for suitably carrying out these, an organic vegetable processing apparatus comprising a cutting means for cutting nonstandard organic vegetables, and processing means for performing various processing for preventing deterioration and decay,
The processing means includes a means for low-temperature cooling the cut vegetables after the cut process, a means for drying the cut vegetables, and a means for heat-treating the cut vegetables, and these processing means are organic vegetables. As appropriate, depending on the type of
Create a processing schedule that works sequentially from processing means with a short quality retention period of cut vegetables after processing and perform processing based on this,
Energy recovery means is provided for recovering energy from biomass consisting of processing residue of the cut vegetables and garbage after consumption of the cut vegetables, and the energy recovered by the processing means is used.

Moreover, it is an organic vegetable processing apparatus provided with a cutting means for cutting non-standard organic vegetables, and processing means for performing various processing for preventing deterioration and decay,
The processing means includes a means for low-temperature cooling the cut vegetables after the cut process, a means for drying the cut vegetables, and a means for heat-treating the cut vegetables, and these processing means are organic vegetables. As appropriate, depending on the type of
Create a processing schedule that operates sequentially from the processing means to produce cut vegetables with great consumer demand, and perform processing based on this,
Energy recovery means is provided for recovering energy from biomass consisting of processing residue of the cut vegetables and garbage after consumption of the cut vegetables, and the energy recovered by the processing means is used.

Further, in these inventions, the energy recovery means is methane fermentation means for methane fermentation of the biomass.
Furthermore, it is preferable to provide a composting means for composting the biomass to produce an organic fertilizer used for cultivation of the organic vegetables.
Thus, it is preferable that energy is recovered as heat or electric power by subjecting the biomass to methane fermentation, and the sludge generated by the methane fermentation or the biomass can be regenerated as an effective resource such as compost.

  As described above, according to the present invention, even non-standard organic vegetables with irregular shapes and sizes can increase the commercial value of the vegetables, and enable the effective use of organic resources. Therefore, it is possible to improve the efficiency of the distribution flow including the smoothing of the processing.

  Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the dimensions, materials, shapes, relative arrangements, and the like of the components described in this embodiment are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention unless otherwise specified, but are merely illustrative examples. Not too much.

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of an organic vegetable processing facility according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows an organic vegetable processing flow according to an embodiment of the present invention. The organic vegetables applied in this embodiment may be any vegetables cultivated by organic farming methods such as leaf vegetables such as cabbage and lettuce, potatoes and root vegetables such as carrots.
In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 denotes a processing place, which includes various processing means including an organic vegetable cut processing means 11, a drying processing means 12, a low-temperature cooling processing means 13, and a heating processing means 14. 20 is a production area of organic vegetables, 21 is a consumption place such as a store or a general household, and 22 is a biomass factory that performs methane fermentation treatment and the like.

The processing place 10 may include organic vegetable cleaning means, sterilization means, freezing means, packaging means, etc. in addition to the processing means shown in the figure.
Of the processing provided in the processing place 10, the cut processing means 11 removes inedible parts such as the skin and core of each raw vegetable and cuts it according to the product standards of each organic vegetable. A blade is provided.

The drying means 12 includes drying means suitable for organic vegetables such as low temperature drying, hot air drying, pressure drying, and reduced pressure drying, and preferably performs a blanching process for drying the organic vegetable surface. Is provided with means for performing a surface drying treatment to inactivate the enzymes contained in the vegetables and prevent deterioration and discoloration during storage.
Further, the low-temperature cooling means 13 has means for cooling the organic vegetables to the refrigeration temperature range. Examples of the cooling means include means for immersing cut vegetables in low-temperature cooling water, means for spraying cold air, and the like. It is preferable to cool the cut vegetables to about 0 ° C. to 10 ° C. by such means. Thereby, the effect | action which weakens the enzyme action in foodstuffs works, and the quality fall and discoloration during storage are prevented.

Moreover, the said heat processing means 14 has a means etc. which immerse a cut vegetable in the hot processing hot water or the low temperature processing hot water of 4-50 degreeC. By such means, the enzyme inside the vegetable becomes inactive, and browning and rot after the treatment are prevented, so that it can be kept for many days. In addition, the heat treatment effectively removes the accum and enhances the taste.
These various processing means include non-standard product data such as non-standard product collection amount, quality retention date data of each cut vegetable according to vegetable type and its processing method, consumer demand data such as consumer demand It is preferable that each be configured to operate according to a processing schedule created based on the above.

The biomass factory 22 includes, for example, a methane fermentation tank, an alcohol fermentation tank, a combustion apparatus, and the like, and collects fuel gas, electricity, and the like using various biomass resources as raw materials.
In this embodiment, the processing residue 28 discharged from the processing plant 12, the garbage 29 discharged from the consumption area 21, forestry waste such as pruned branches and felled wood, and agricultural waste 30 are used as raw materials. Is preferred.
Moreover, it is preferable to provide a composting tank for aerobic fermentation using the biomass or the digested sludge after methane fermentation as a raw material, and use the compost produced thereby as an organic fertilizer for growing the organic vegetables.

Explaining the operation of this embodiment, first, the various organic vegetables harvested in the production area 20 are sorted into non-standard organic vegetables 25 and commercialized organic vegetables 26 having irregular shapes and sizes. The commercialized organic vegetables 26 are shipped to the consumption place 21 as they are and sold.
On the other hand, the non-standard organic vegetables 25 are sent to the processing place 10 and cut by the cut processing means 11 based on the product specifications, and then the drying processing means 12, the low-temperature cooling means 13, and the heating processing means 14 respectively. After being processed by the processing means selected according to the type and appropriately packaged, it is sent to the consumption area 21.

  And the processing residue 28 discharged | emitted from the said processing plant 10, and household residues, such as garbage which were discharged | emitted from the consumption place 21, are collect | recovered by the biomass factory 22 arrange | positioned in the suburbs of the said processing plant 10, Here, it is converted into energy such as biogas by methane fermentation treatment or the like. The generated energy such as biogas 31 is supplied to the processing place 10 and used for various types of processing.

  In this way, even if organic vegetables are harvested by using agrochemicals and chemical fertilizers and many non-standard products are harvested, the non-standard products can be shipped after being subjected to the above various processing treatments. Product value and demand can be improved. Further, by collecting the biomass and using it as an energy source, the amount of waste can be reduced, and an energy source can be secured without introducing energy from the outside.

Next, the processing flow of such organic vegetables will be described with reference to FIG.
First, the organic vegetables are harvested (S1), and the non-standard products and the organic vegetables to be commercialized are selected from the collected organic vegetables (S2). Then, non-standard product data such as the quantity and type of the selected non-standard product, quality retention date data of various vegetables, and consumer demand data such as consumer demand are collected (S3). A processing schedule is created based on the data (S4).

The non-standard organic vegetables are cut (S5) based on the respective product standards and then subjected to various types of processing based on the processing schedule. For example, chopped radish, Western vegetable salad such as lettuce, etc. have a short shelf life of 3 to 5 days, and the consumption is large and demand is high. ).
In addition, root vegetables such as bamboo shoots and bamboo shoots that require heat treatment have a shelf life of about 1 to 2 weeks and can be stored to a certain extent. Perform (S7).

Furthermore, root vegetables such as onions and persimmons that require low-temperature cooling have a relatively long shelf life of one week to three months, so that only the necessary amount of low-temperature cooling can be performed while drying, heat treatment, etc. are not performed. (S8) should be performed and stored.
Various cut vegetables processed in this way are shipped to the market (S9) and are delivered to consumers.

Meanwhile, the consumption residue of cut vegetables discharged by the consumer and the processing residue discharged by the processing are collected and sent to the biomass factory, where biomass energy is generated (S10). And energy, such as produced | generated biogas, is supplied to the said processing place, and is utilized as an energy source of the said drying process (S6), heat processing (S7), and low temperature cooling process (S8).
Thus, by creating a processing schedule, it is possible to perform processing efficiently and smoothly without wastefully manufacturing cut vegetables.

  The processing plant is set up in a region where organic vegetables are produced, and a biomass factory is installed adjacent to the processing plant. Of the organic vegetables harvested in the region, non-standard products are processed into processed products at the processing plant. In addition to shipping to the consumption area, energy is converted into energy at the biomass factory using the consumption residue from the consumption area, the processing residue from the processing plant, and agricultural or forestry waste discharged from the area. It can also be sent to the processing plant to form a closed system within one area.

It is a block diagram of processing equipment of organic vegetables concerning an embodiment of the present invention. It is a processing flow of the organic vegetable concerning embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Processing place 11 Cut processing means 12 Drying processing means 13 Low-temperature cooling processing means 14 Heat processing means 20 Production place 21 Consumption place 22 Biomass factory 25 Non-standard organic vegetables 26 Commercialized organic vegetables 27 Cut vegetables 31 Biogas

Claims (8)

After the cut processing step of cutting nonstandard organic vegetables, it is a processing method of organic vegetables provided with processing steps for performing various processing treatments for preventing deterioration and decay,
The processing step includes a step of low-temperature cooling the cut vegetables after the cut treatment, a step of drying the cut vegetables, and a step of heat-treating the cut vegetables, and these processing steps are cut vegetables. Is selected as appropriate according to the type of
Create a processing schedule that operates sequentially from the processing process with a short quality retention period of cut vegetables after processing and perform processing based on this,
The processing method of the organic vegetables characterized by using the energy collect | recovered from the biomass which consists of the processing residue of the said cut vegetables, and the garbage after consumption of cut vegetables in the said process process. After the cut processing step of cutting nonstandard organic vegetables, it is a processing method of organic vegetables provided with processing steps for performing various processing treatments for preventing deterioration and decay,
The processing step includes a step of low-temperature cooling the cut vegetables after the cut treatment, a step of drying the cut vegetables, and a step of heating the cut vegetables. Depending on the type,
Create a processing schedule that operates sequentially from the processing process to produce cut vegetables with great consumer demand and perform processing based on this,
The processing method of the organic vegetables characterized by using the energy collect | recovered from the biomass which consists of the processing residue of the said cut vegetables, and the garbage after consumption of cut vegetables in the said process process.   The method for treating organic vegetables according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the biomass is subjected to methane fermentation to generate methane gas, and the methane gas is used in the processing step. After processing organic vegetables, it is a processing method of organic vegetables that performs various processing for preventing deterioration and decay, and ships the processed cut vegetables,
Collect non-standard product data including the amount of non-standard product collected from the organic vegetables,
Create a processing schedule in the processing according to the non-standard product data and the quality retention time limit data or consumption demand data of the cut vegetables after processing,
An organic vegetable processing method comprising performing at least one of low-temperature cooling processing, drying processing, and heat processing of cut vegetables based on the processing schedule in the processing processing. An organic vegetable processing apparatus comprising a cutting means for cutting non-standard organic vegetables and processing means for performing various processing treatments for preventing deterioration and decay,
The processing means includes a means for low-temperature cooling the cut vegetables after the cut process, a means for drying the cut vegetables, and a means for heat-treating the cut vegetables, and these processing means are organic vegetables. As appropriate, depending on the type of
Create a processing schedule that works sequentially from processing means with a short quality retention period of cut vegetables after processing and perform processing based on this,
Organic vegetable processing, characterized in that energy recovery means for recovering energy from biomass consisting of processing residue of cut vegetables and raw food after consumption of cut vegetables is provided, and the energy recovered by the processing means is used apparatus. An organic vegetable processing apparatus comprising a cutting means for cutting non-standard organic vegetables and processing means for performing various processing treatments for preventing deterioration and decay,
The processing means includes a means for low-temperature cooling the cut vegetables after the cut process, a means for drying the cut vegetables, and a means for heat-treating the cut vegetables, and these processing means are organic vegetables. As appropriate, depending on the type of
Create a processing schedule that operates sequentially from the processing means to produce cut vegetables with great consumer demand, and perform processing based on this,
Organic vegetable processing, characterized in that energy recovery means for recovering energy from biomass consisting of processing residue of cut vegetables and raw food after consumption of cut vegetables is provided, and the energy recovered by the processing means is used apparatus.   The organic vegetable processing apparatus according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the energy recovery means is methane fermentation means for methane fermentation of the biomass. The organic vegetable processing apparatus according to claim 5 or 6, wherein composting means for composting the biomass is provided to produce an organic fertilizer used for cultivation of the organic vegetable.

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