Spices, medicinal herbs, tea and roots

Gentle comminution with maximum preservation of quality

Spices and herbs are natural products, the mechanical processing of which merely alters the shape while ensuring that any negative impact is kept as low as possible. The successful processing of spices and herbs places complex requirements on the processing chain and is one of the most difficult tasks of size reduction technology.

Every process is individual and depends on both the customer requirements and the diversity of product properties. Important factors are the hardness, size, colour, oil content, shear resistance and viscosity of the spices, medicinal herbs, dried vegetables or roots that are to be processed. In addition, quality fluctuations due to their natural origin must be taken into account.

Within the process, this means that wear, temperature changes, fire and explosion risks must be considered. In this connection, the essential oil content plays an important role. It dictates the later market value as well as the aroma intensity in the final application. Because of this, spices require very "gentle" processing, for example by means of cryogenic grinding with nitrogen or conditioned air.

Turnkey solutions for processing spices, herbs, teas and roots

Classification, cutting, fine grinding and cryogenic grinding from a single source
Individually configured machines and systems
More than 120 years of experience in your process
Possibility of product trials in our test centres

Cleaning

Removal of light and heavy impurities

The MZM Multi-Plex zigzag classifier removes light (e. g. hair, foils, papers) and heavy impurities (e. g. stones, stems, metal parts) from your product. Dependent on the product, the light or heavy fraction is used either as the end product or for post-processing.

Various machine sizes available
Design as single-tube or multi-tube classifiers for sharp separations in the range of d₉₇ = ca. 0.3 to 10 mm
Throughputs of several kg/h up to 200 t/h
Simple operation
Low-maintenance and low-wear classifier
Reliable in operation

Areas of application

Hibiscus

Tea

Coriander

Crushing and cutting

Of spices, herbs and tea

Spices, herbs and tea are reduced to uniformly fine, clean-cut granules with a minimum of dust using the Rotoplex granulators. The cross-scissor-cut rotor of the Rotoplex granulators guarantees an ideal production of fine to coarse grained products. This is why the pre-crushing of large spices as a preliminary stage to fine grinding is a typical area of application.

Areas of application

Oregano

Ginger

Chestnuts

Chili

Garlic

Fruit teas

Fine grinding with maximum flexibility

For various spices and market requirements

The Ultraplex UPZ fine impact mill is known as the universal spice mill, due to its flexibly of using different grinding tools and adjustable rotor speeds. It is the mill of choice for root spices, seeds, fruit skins and husks with a high ash content and extremely hard seed pods such as rose hips. Grinding behaviour, throughput performance and product quality depend on moisture content, purity, essential oil content and origin. The mill door can be opened in a wide angle for easy cleaning.

Various machine sizes available
High flexibility due to easily exchangeable milling tools
High fineness with top size limitation
Perfect for fibrous roots and spices
Easy cleaning and accessibility
Dust explosion protection available
Bearing protected against dust ingress by air rinsing
Low energy consumption

1 Feeding bin 2 Feeding screw 3 Metal separator 4 Fine impact mill UPZ
5 Automatic filter 6 Blower 7 Explosion barrier valves 8 Control cabinet

Fine grinding with maximum performance

For oily seed spices

Together with the special drop shape of the housing, the two pin discs driven in contrary motion of the Contraplex CW II pin mill minimise deposit formation. In this way, they enable longer production times for difficult products. In counter-rotating mode, the Contraplex pin mill achieves much higher relative speeds than the UPZ fine impact mill. The fineness can be adjusted by changing the pin disc speeds. The design with the wide-chamber housing is ideal for processing moist, greasy and sticky products such as nutmeg/mace, cardamom or mustard seeds. The feed material is often embrittled by intensive mixing with liquid nitrogen.

Various machine sizes available
Easy access to the grinding area for cleaning and maintenance
Finer grinding: higher speeds allow better deagglomeration and hence finest results
Gearless drives avoid any possible contamination in the production area
Low energy consumption

1 Feeding bin 2 Feeding screw 3 Metal separator 4 Fine impact mill CW II
5 Automatic filter 6 Blower 7 Explosion barrier valves 8 Control cabinet

Cryogenic fine grinding

Process stability and high fineness for oily products

Heat is generated during the grinding process, which has two consequences: Firstly, the essential oils evaporate, and secondly, the heat-sensitive fats melt. In the worst case, this can cause the grinding elements to clog up and the entire mill to block and stall. This is prevented by cryogenic grinding with mainly liquid nitrogen as a cooling agent. Here, the cooling agent can either be injected directly into the mill or the material can be pre-cooled and embrittled in a whirling motion cooling screw.

As the loss of essential oils is considerably less with cryogenic grinding than with grinding at ambient temperature, it is possible to improve the aroma and flavor. In addition, the grinding performance is about twice as high, and the risk of fire is eliminated.

Cryogenic equipment

Our systems are designed especially for operation under cryogenic conditions. These include:

Vacuum-insulated nitrogen tank, ductings and tubing (provided by the customer)
Insulation of the closed-circuit system
Stainless steel design on account of condensation
Cryogenic control valve unit for exact dosing of the requisite amount of liquid nitrogen
Whirling motion cooling screw to cool the feed product
Temperature control, oxygen monitoring

1 Feeding bin 2 Feeding screw 3 Metal separator 4 Cooling screw
5 Fine impact mill CW II 6 Automatic filter 7 Blower 8 Control cabinet

Other process components

In the processing of spices, herbs, tea and roots

Together with our partners from the Hosokawa Micron Group, we can cover additional process components in spice production:

Homogenisation/mixing: The Nauta conical screw mixer from our Dutch partner Hosokawa Micron B.V. is a versatile mixing solution for low-intensity mixing of different types of herbs and spices with a variety of product characteristics. The Vitomix ribbon screw mixer is a vertical, low to mid-shear mixer and is specially designed for the addition of liquids/fats to powders without using choppers.
Steam sterilization: Hosokawa Micron B.V.’s CPD steam steriliser ensures optimal removal of all pathogenic organisms and germs, with minimum risk of product distortion or loss of colour and taste.
Puree grinding: The Angle Disintegrator Unit, available from our British partner Hosokawa Micron Ltd. offers efficient size reduction of wet and dry spices, purees and sauces down to 300 μm (subject to product and application).
Conveying, storage, dosing and weighing: During the entire production process, the spices have to be conveyed, stored, dosed and weighed, often more than once. You will find the appropriate technologies for these process steps at our partner Hosokawa Solids.

Spice processing systems for your individual needs

Configured especially for you

Every spice, herb and tea has its own requirements for machines and systems. That's why we configure the equipment for your individual spice process according to your wishes and needs. You are not sure which process is best suited for you? We will be happy to advise you - just get in touch with us!

Try before you buy: In our Application Center Food, you can carry out product trials with your own test material. In this way, you can convince yourself of the quality of our systems.

Brochure Spice processing