Diseño de una planta de producción de encapsulados de carotenoides a partir de pulpa de mango (Mangifera Indica l), y de pulpa de melón (Cucumis Melo), mediante deshidratación por aspersión

Abstract

With the aim of finding an industrialization alternative for mango and melon production in the country, taking advantage of its richness in beta-carotenes, a plant was designed to produce carotenoid encapsulates from mango pulp (Mangifera indica l), and melon pulp (Cucumis melo) from the spray-drying technology. A productive unit was designed to obtain 75 tons per year of micro-encapsulated pulp. The designed plant incorporates conveyor belts, a cleaning drencher, a disinfection well, a fruit pulper, two mobile reactors for enzymatic treatment, a rotary filter, a stirred tank, a storage tank and a spray dryer. A simulation of spray drying was carried out where 128 kg / h enters the dryer to obtain 25 kg / h of micro-encapsulated pulp with a humidity lower than 3%. The plant represents a feasible investment project from the financial point of view, requires an initial investment of 2 900 542,5 USD, for a Net Present Value (NPV) of 1 102 575 USD and an internal rate of return of 15,7 %, considering 70% of external financing, with a pre-feasibility study evaluated at 10 years.