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Cassava flour, chips and starch
High quality cassava flour, dried chips, native starch, garri
Cassava flour, chips and starch line by GEM Foodtech, Kolkata, India — capacity 1 to 25 tonnes of roots per hour, final yield 28% of raw intake, delivered as a turnkey plant with installation and commissioning worldwide.
The commercial reality
Cassava deteriorates within 48 hours of harvest and carries cyanogenic glycosides that have to be reduced. Speed and dewatering are the two levers: every point of moisture taken out by the press costs a fraction of the same point taken out by the dryer.
Process flow diagram
Generated for the standard configuration. Yours is redrawn to your product mix, capacity and site.
Process chart
Every stage with the equipment that performs it, the operating parameter and the control point that decides quality.
| # | Stage | Equipment | Parameter | Control point |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Reception and weighing | Industrial elevator | Roots processed within 24 h | Freshness at intake |
| 02 | Washing and peeling | Peeler, abrasive or steam | Rotary washer-peeler | Peel and soil removed |
| 03 | Grating or chipping | Slicer, dicer and shredder | Grater for flour, chipper for chips | Particle size set for drying |
| 04 | Dewatering | Juice extractor, hydraulic or screw press | Hydraulic or screw press to 45–50% moisture | Cyanide reduced, thermal load cut |
| 05 | Pulverising | Grinder and pulveriser | Cake breaker before drying | Free-flowing feed to the dryer |
| 06 | Drying | Belt dryer and dehydration system | Belt or flash dryer to 10–12% moisture | Whiteness and safe moisture |
| 07 | Milling and sieving | Vibro sifter and grader | Hammer mill, 100–150 mesh | Flour fineness to specification |
| 08 | Packing | Filling, sealing and packing line | 25 or 50 kg bags with metal detection | Moisture and foreign body control |
Mass balance
Basis of 1,000 kg of raw material. Change the tonnage below and the whole table rescales.
| Stage | Output, kg/h | Yield | Loss, kg/h | Where the loss goes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fresh roots received | 1,000 | 100% | 0 | — |
| After washing and peeling | 800 | 80% | 200 | Peel to feed or biogas |
| After grating | 790 | 79% | 10 | Handling losses |
| After pressing | 440 | 44% | 350 | Press liquor, starch recoverable |
| Dried flour at 11% moisture | 280 | 28% | 160 | Water evaporated |
By-products: Peel and press liquor to biogas or starch recovery; press cake fibre dried as feed.
Equipment schedule
Core machines for this line. Conveying, tanks, CIP and utilities are added to suit the layout.
| Equipment | Capacity range | Function |
|---|---|---|
| Industrial elevator | Handling | Lifts washed or raw material between floor levels without bruising. |
| Peeler, abrasive or steam | Preparation | Abrasive carborundum drum or batch steam peeler with flash vessel. |
| Slicer, dicer and shredder | Preparation | Uniform slices, dices, strips or kibble — cut geometry sets drying time. |
| Juice extractor, hydraulic or screw press | Separation | Presses juice from crushed fruit; cake exits for drying or feed. |
| Grinder and pulveriser | Size reduction | Hammer, pin or cryogenic milling to a controlled mesh. |
| Belt dryer and dehydration system | Drying | Multi-zone drying with controlled curve — the GEM core competence. |
| Vibro sifter and grader | Separation | Mesh separation into grades; oversize returns to the mill. |
| Filling, sealing and packing line | Packing | Weighing, filling, sealing, metal detection and case packing. |
Questions we get on this line
How is cyanide handled?
Grating, pressing and drying together reduce cyanogenic content well below the Codex limit. Pressing is the step that does most of the work, which is another reason not to skip it.
Flour or starch?
Flour uses the whole root and needs less water. Starch fetches more per tonne but needs extraction, separation and a much larger effluent plant.
What capacity range does the cassava line cover?
Standard GEM Foodtech builds cover 1 to 25 tonnes of roots per hour. Larger duties are engineered to order — the right size is set by the raw material supply through the season, not the nameplate figure.
Is this supplied as a complete turnkey plant?
Yes. The Cassava flour, chips and starch line is delivered end to end — feasibility, pilot trial on your own material, engineering, manufacture in Kolkata, installation, commissioning and operator training — or as individual machines to fit an existing plant.
Want this line costed for your tonnage?
Send the raw material specification and the capacity you are targeting. You get a flow diagram, an equipment schedule and a budget number.