Fig Processing Plant & Machinery Solutions

Incoming fruit is sorted to take out spoiled, split and insect-damaged figs, then washed to remove dust, sand and field debris. Sorting at the front of the line keeps damaged fruit out of the dryers altogether.

Figs are dried in warm air until the flesh is firm and the moisture is stable for storage. Controlled mechanical drying is used where open sun drying is not reliable or is not accepted for the grade.

Dried figs are steam treated, which sanitises the fruit and at the same time softens it so it can be handled and shaped. A fully dry fig cracks when it is worked, whereas a conditioned one flexes.

Stems are trimmed and the fruit is graded by size, since fig trade grades are set by count and size. Off-grade fruit is diverted here to the paste and bakery streams instead of being packed whole.

Figs going into layer and block packs are flattened and pressed to shape, while whole figs pass through untouched. Diverted off-grade fruit is milled into fig paste for bakery and filling manufacturers.

Metal and X-ray inspection run before filling, and the fruit is packed into trays, pouches or cartons and coded. Sealed and gas-flushed formats are used where a longer ambient shelf life is required.