Dried Fruit processing · South Africa
Export-grade dried fruit.
South African dried fruit competes in demanding export markets with exacting specifications, where browning and unpredictable sugar behaviour degrade appearance.
Processing challenges
- Exacting export-market specifications.
- Browning and discolouration degrade appearance.
- Fruit sugars behave unpredictably during drying.
- Harvest peaks strain capacity; conventional drying carries high energy cost.
System configuration
- Variable temperature zoning across drying phases.
- Humidity profiling preventing case hardening.
- Airflow optimised for different fruit geometries — a halved apricot and a whole grape dry differently.
- Process controls preserving natural appearance.
- Heat recovery reducing operating cost.
Product applications
- Grapes & raisins — golden-raisin production, Thompson seedless optimisation, sugar-crystal management.
- Stone fruit — peach and apricot specialisation, half-cut formats, colour preservation, texture development.
- Subtropical fruit — mango, pineapple and papaya with sugar and acidity management.
Outcomes
- Enhanced visual appeal through controlled processing.
- Optimised texture for target-market preference.
- Vitamin and antioxidant retention.
- Extended shelf life; reduced labour and processing time.
Explore further
- Fruit & vegetable drying — parameters and quality metrics for this product class.
- Hot-air generators — the indirect-heat core that keeps combustion off your product.
- Industrial tunnel dryers — the 1,500 kg-per-batch chambers this configuration uses.
- Worked use cases — fully engineered example configurations across West Africa.
Processing dried fruit in South Africa?
We’ll match temperature, airflow and hygiene design to your product and validate parameters by trial before quoting outcomes.
Request a quote