Abstract: Whole (unsliced) fruit or vegetable product is introduced into a chamber wherein an enzyme inactivating environment has been established and which is maintained by a constant flow of a hot dry inert gas. The product is sliced by hot knives into small pieces in the chamber. The sliced fruit or vegetable product is maintained in such environment long enough to completely inactivate the enzymes and then is introduced into a pulper-finisher to macerate the product and separate the puree from the peel and fiber.

Abstract: A process for fractionating the whole wheat kernel into its gluten, starch and bran-germ components including the steps of tempering the whole wheat kernel in water to increase its moisture content, milling the tempered kernel to reduce the particle sizes of the kernel components, forming a homogeneous slurry of the particles and water, the wheat to water ratio of the slurry being in the range 1:3 to 1:10, by weight, vigorously admixing the slurry to achieve uniform dispersion of the particles in the water, applying centrifugal forces to the slurry to cause it to separate into its gluten, starch and water phases, separating the gluten and starch phases and purifying them by conventional techniques to recover gluten, starch and bran-germ in very high yield fractions.

Abstract: A method for processing pineapples by sequentially drilling a central hole, cutting off the upper end, transferring the pineapple to a peeling spindle, indexing the pineapple on the spindle through a series of peeling stations, cutting off the bottom end, rotating the spindle a single turn at each peeling station adjacent an array of rotating cutters to remove spaced bands from the outer surface of the pineapple while maintaining the original ovoid shape of the pineapple, pushing the peeled pineapple through a rotating circular knife to form the pineapple into a cylinder and an outer blanket, and removing the remaining fibrous core prior to discharge.

Abstract: The present invention is directed to a method for separating mature okra seed into its essential basic components of oil, germ, kernel material and hull. The separation is obtained by cracking the seed in, or immersing previously cracked seed in a liquid medium having a specific gravity of 1.3 plus or minus 0.2 at 60.degree. F. The liquid medium may be an aqueous solution adjusted with sodium chloride, sugar, or other water soluble organic material. However, in order to extract the oil, a solvent such as 1,1,1,-trichloroethane or a blend of trichlorotrifluoroethane and hexane is suitable. The liquid medium will separate the cracked components because of the differences in density of the various components. The hulls will sink in the liquid, and the germ and kernel floats or remains suspended in the liquid. The germ and kernel is then decanted from the hulls, the oil and liquid solvent is separated from the solids by a filter and the oil is extracted from the liquid solvent.

Abstract: The blossom and stem ends of a papaya are sliced off to expose the seed cavity, and the seeds therein are blown out by a jet of fluid.

Abstract: A process for fractionating the whole wheat kernel into its bran, germ and endosperm components includes the steps of tempering the wheat kernel in water, pin milling the wheat kernel, sifting the milled kernal to separate the germ and bran components from the endosperm, hydrating and agitating the endosperm to just saturate it and to form a thick, dough-like mass and mechanically working, by kneading, cutting and stretching, the dough-like mass while continuously washing it with water to separate the non-gluten endosperm components from the gluten. The bran and germ components can be separated from each other by conventional gravity table techniques.

Abstract: A method of hulling berries in which the unhulled berries are supported on a pair of oppositely rotating brushes with their adjacent sides moving downwardly and with the bristles in partially lapping relation at their adjacent sides.The bristles are sufficiently stiff and resilient to pull sepals drawn between them downwardly from a berry supported on the pair of brushes, without tearing them, and to partially enter each berry at the stem end of the calyx (hull) for passing over the enlargement on the calyx at said end to quickly push the enlargement, with the sepals attached, out of the berry.In operation, upon one of the sepals of a berry supported on the pair of brushes being engaged between bristles, the berry will be held against movement longitudinally of the brushes while the remaining sepals are progressively gathered between the brushes, and after being gathered the brushes slightly enter the berry to move across said enlargement and remove it, including the gathered sepals, from the berry.

Abstract: A process for concentrating oilseed protein which comprises the steps of fine grinding and air-classifying the initial protein source and washing the ground protein source with water at a pH of about 4 to 6 or with a 20% to 80% by weight alcohol solution.

Abstract: Apple sauce is produced in a continuous process stream without hand trimming by dicing the untrimmed, sometimes uncored fruit, electronically sorting the dices to reject blemished dices, and cooking and conventionally finishing the accepted blemish free dices. The reject dices are reduced to blemished and unblemished tissue by being either (1) rediced into smaller pieces and resorted, (2) sliced to further subdivide them while in an auxiliary processing path and returned to the process stream for resorting, (3) sliced to further subdivide them and resorted while in an auxiliary processing path whereafter surviving unblemished tissue is returned to the process stream, or (4) blemished dices from the original sorting or from the resorting of step 3 are routed to a separate cooker and fine screen finisher to produce a nearly blemish free fine sauce which in turn is blended with the conventionally finished sauce produced from the accepted dices. The fruit may be lye peeled prior to dicing.

Abstract: Method for hollowing out an article of food such as a fruit or vegetable so that a shell of substantially uniform predetermined thickness is formed. A rotating knife is rotated about its axis, while an end area of an article of food is guided with a curved guide member against the rotating knife. The guide member loosely supports the food for rotation and translation about its longitudinal axis while maintaining the knife a predetermined distance from the surface of the food. The distance between the guide and the blade is adjustable to control the thickness of the shell.