With the new turnkey line NutraFlash, the Syntegon subsidiary Makat Candy Technology wants to set new standards in the starchless production of gummy and jelly products. By means of this innovative solution, manufacturers can increase the quality of highly sensitive products.
Besides producing gummies and jellies with high dry substance content and dosing ingredients precisely, according to the supplier, the new line enables accurate starchless depositing in reusable plastic moulds. The holistic turnkey approach ensures a highly reliable, closed production for consistent product quality along the entire process. To this effect, the system includes end-to-end recipe management and a coordinated control concept for harmonized operations. “Our line covers all steps of jelly production from dosing and mixing the ingredients to product finishing,” says Dr Sandra Link, Product Manager at Makat Candy Technology.
Starchless technology plays an increasingly important role in the production of so-called nutraceuticals. These functional sweets contain valuable ingredients such as vitamins or minerals. As a consequence, they require special handling along the entire production line, for example precise dosing to ensure the right additive content per individual piece. For this, the company relies on its proven technologies for all process steps which allow for even smoother production thanks to comprehensive adaptations. “Our high degree of automation combined with digital condition monitoring helps manufacturers to achieve reliable and time-saving processes with low reject rates,” Sandra Link notes.
The Makat Rapidsolver Solids+ is at the heart of the starchless kitchen. As a special execution of the proven Rapidsolver, the system achieves high dry substance content of up to 86 % when dissolving the base jelly mass – a special characteristic of starchless production. This eliminates the need for subsequent moisture removal by means of starch, as is the case with starch-based depositing in a mogul line. “This significantly reduces process times, which enables manufacturers to produce gummies and jellies in a time- and cost-efficient manner,” Sandra Link emphasizes. Adding supplements is another special feature in the production of nutraceuticals. The often sensitive ingredients are optimally protected from excessive thermal stress since functional additives are only added shortly before depositing, and the dwell times in the depositor are kept short.
Special tail-cutting nozzles of the CMP depositor ensure a high-quality processing, even of highly viscous and difficult jelly masses. Once the products have been deposited into re-
usable plastic moulds, they cool down in the line’s integrated cooling tunnel. This spares manufacturers additional handling processes, such as removing the moulds and cooling the products in external cooling chambers.
The subsequent application of polishing agents in the fully automated BC 96 oiling drum has also been adapted significantly: In addition to a centerlining functionality for lower process variability, the drum features a Human Machine Interface (HMI). This allows operators to enter individual target values for each product recipe and call up the data as required. Thus, the BC 96 ensures consistently high quality during the oiling process in addition to fast product change-overs and product-specific oiling.
