Vinegar

Introduction

Vinegar is commonly used at homes and in food industries. Vinegar is a natural product obtained through acetic fermentation. Natural vinegar can be prepared from any sugary material like sugarcane juice, coconut water, gur, fruit and cannery wastes, molasses, palm juices etc. Synthetic vinegar is prepared from acetic acid. Vinegar is used in pickles, chutneys, tomato ketchup, sauces and other condiment preparations. One of the important specifications for vinegar is that it should contain at least 4% acetic acid.

Production of vinegar is carried out by traditional sector under cottage scale. Vinegar is prepared by a slow process in which the acetic fermentation of alcoholic liquor to vinegar takes place slowly in barrels. However, CFTRI has developed a fast process for obtaining vinegar, using a simple inexpensive vinegar generator, which can be adapted in rural areas to manufacture vinegar using the locally available raw materials like sugarcane juice/jaggery/toddy/ coconut water / pineapple waste, etc. Vinegar generator can be locally fabricated. Vinegar generators are simple to operate. They require no power supply and units can be set up easily in rural areas.

The quick process of CFTRI has made it possible to acetify 100 kg of fermented pineapple waste liquor to vinegar of 4% acetic acid in 24 hours. A small generator can produce 10 kg vinegar every 24 hours.

The equipments required for the above process include vinegar generator (design drawings available in CFTRI), wooden barrels, sterilization tank and other handling equipments.

Estimated project cost:

Capacity of the unit : 100 kg/day
Building : 50 M2
Equipment : Rs.75,000
Working Capital (1 month) : Rs.75,000

Utilities per day:

Manpower : 4 Nos.
Water : 2,000 litres

For further information please contact :

The Director
Ministry of Food Processing Industries
Panchsheel Bhawan, August Kranti Marg
New Delhi -110049