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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Albany, California » Western Regional Research Center » Healthy Processed Foods Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #318012

Research Project: New Sustainable Processing Technologies to Produce Healthy, Value-Added Foods from Specialty Crops

Location: Healthy Processed Foods Research

Title: Optimization of tomato pomace separation using air aspirator system by response surface methodology

Author
item SHAO, DONGYAN - University Of California
item VENKITASAMY, CHANDRASEKAR - University Of California
item SHI, JUNLING - Northwest University
item LI, XUAN - University Of California
item Yokoyama, Wallace - Wally
item Pan, Zhongli

Submitted to: Transactions of the ASABE
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/30/2015
Publication Date: 10/2/2015
Citation: Shao, D., Venkitasamy, C., Shi, J., Li, X., Yokoyama, W.H., Pan, Z. 2015. Optimization of tomato pomace separation using air aspirator system by response surface methodology. Transactions of the ASABE. 58(6):1885-1894.

Interpretive Summary: This research developed a procedure to separate seeds and peels in tomato pomace for achieving value-added utilization of tomato pomace. The optimal separation conditions for tomato pomace were determined to be moisture content of 8.0%, air velocity of 6.4 m/s, and the feeding rate of 40 kg/h, which gave the tomato peel and seeds with the purities of 82.20 ± 3.26% and 86.11 ± 3.65% and separation efficiency of 68.56 ± 6.52%, respectively. The predicted values were highly fitted with the experimental data, which indicated the accuracy of quadratic models. Chemical analysis of separated tomato peels and seeds showed that dietary fiber and lycopene were rich in tomato peels, while fat and protein were valuable components in seeds. The results of this study demonstrated that the air aspirator could be used for the industrial separation of tomato pomace.

Technical Abstract: Tomato pomace contains seeds and peels which are rich in protein and fat, and dietary fiber and lycopene, respectively. It is important to develop a suitable method to separate seeds and peel in tomato pomace for achieving value-added utilization of tomato pomace. The objectives of this research were to study the feasibility of air separation of tomato pomace using a lab scale fluid bed dryer, to evaluate the effect of moisture content, air velocity and feeding rate on the separation of tomato pomace using an air aspirator, and to optimize the separation conditions using Response Surface Methodology (RSM). The separation in a fluid bed dryer at 3.3 m/s air velocity resulted in 80.49% separation efficiency with more than 85% purity of peel and seeds. Single factor experiments with the aspirator showed that the moisture content (5.7% to 23.0% on dry basis) of tomato pomace, air velocity (5.3 to 7.1 m/s) and feeding rate (15 to 90 kg/ h) significantly affected the purity of both peel and seed fractions and the separation efficiency. The optimal separation conditions using the aspirator were tomato pomace moisture content of 8.0%, air velocity of 6.4 m/s, and feeding rate of 40 kg/h, which achieved purities of 82.20 ± 3.26% and 86.11 ± 3.65% for peel and seed fractions , respectively, with a separation efficiency of 68.56 ± 6.52%. The predicted separation results were highly fitted with the experimental data, which indicated the high accuracy of quadratic models. The results of this study showed that aspirator could be used for the industrial separation of tomato pomace.