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Rebirth of citrus peel processing
looks promising

Newly installed evaporator at the citrus peel processing plant.

By BARBARA OEHLBECK
“The history of processed citrus peel has been the same for more than seventy years. But now there’s something new emerging, something good that’s good for you!”

Having worked in the food and citrus industry for over thirty years, Robert Jones ought to know. “It (citrus peel) has been processed the same way all this time. There’s one end product for processed citrus peel and that is cattle feed. With all the environmental issues, even Duda is not able to process its peel. Duda shut their feed mill down four years ago because of environmental concerns. A feed mill used to make money for a citrus plant; just processing the peel was a profitable venture, not so now.

In the last 12 to 15 years it had gotten to be an expense for a citrus plant. They still had to deal with the peel after they’d process the fruit for juice. With all the environmental regulations, air emissions, constraints and the EPA monitoring all systems, citrus plants had to upgrade equipment to handle emissions and wastes that cost millions of dollars.

The President of Alarma/CitraFiber glows with enthusiasm and ambition.

In his office on the grounds of Duda, Route 29, South of LaBelle, from whom the corporation has leased 10,000 square feet of space for its new five million dollar installation a year ago, Robert Jones explains “CitraFiber will be manufactured from the ‘peel waste’ after the oranges are squeezed for juice, namely, peel, pulp, oil and seeds. The orange part of the peel called zest or flavedo produces citrus oil.

Nothing goes to waste,” Jones declares. “Not even the water. It goes back into the process of producing these products. The peel is processed with no added chemicals, all in food grade stainless steel equipment. Seeds are sold to Japan either frozen or dried for various medications. “And,” he adds, “this is just the beginning... we are developing more products and acquiring more markets right now.”

Leasing old feed mill
Henry Heisler, plant manager of Duda’s facility on SR 29, said ALARMA Coproration is leasing the old feed mill building space that hasn’t been used for over three years. This came about when it became no longer feasible to operate the mill. Citrus waste used to be hauled to cattle farms but now Heisler feels this is a better use of the product. He also said that Duda runs about 50 truckloads per day during the season with each truck hauling some 35,000 pounds of waste fruit peel. This is CitraFiber’s raw material.

The Alarma Corporation has submitted its unique process for a process patent, which should come through in 18 months to two years.

Alarma is developing a variety of products from citrus peel and an array of applications for their use. “Flour” for instance which is actually the peel fiber milled into various degrees of coarseness.

“The processed/dried peel is amazing the experts,” Jones says. “Its fiber content is 83 percent.”

The fiber can be added commercially to snacks, sauces, cereals and the like, as well as “veggie” foods and one major supermarket chain is exploring it as an additive to veggie burgers and crab meat.

Another major use is that coarse ground peel can be used to clean up environmental spills and does it better than those on the market today.

The typical citrus feed mill is based upon the sugar beet industry. Jones says they copied that and transferred it over and it’s been that way for seventy-plus years. It has not changed. And the efficiency is so blatantly outdated and fuel costs so high, the emissions problems, the VOCs, (volatile organic compound) which is basically from the oils in the peels being ejected and admitted into the atmosphere that are ozone killers, so it’s an ozone problem very similar to terpenes in paper mills.

“So we’ve basically taken the peel, split out all the components, oil, sugar, water. and dry mass instead of making a rationed, low value cattle feed. We’re being GRAS approved, that’s ‘generally regarded as safe,’ so we’ve created a process to render peel for human consumption... the oils, the sugars and the dry mass. Up to this time, chemicals have been added that made processed peel toxic. We use no chemicals, we don’t make it toxic. We extract all these components, the oils, the sugars and the dry mass all for food grade use which can be used in many different venues for human use.

“It was back it the ’70s when I first discovered this idea. I worked at Bird’s Eye in Winter Haven, Florida. I left that industry, went into the cereal industry, the tobacco industry, the corn starch industry, then came back into the citrus industry and it had not changed! Now we have the food or fuel paradox facing the nation. We’re looking at 400 million people in the U. S. and one hundred million of those are over 50 years in age and are more health conscious. The youth of this country on the other hand is under a major obesity problem. Natural healthy food additives are now a necessity.”

Bringing jobs back to Florida
“Starting with this plant we’ll create twenty or so jobs the latter part of this year. As we expand,of course, there’ll be more. There are about twelve citrus plants (of size) in Florida. Getting raw material won’t be a problem. Getting the first plant running and getting the products on the market takes time...a lot of time.”

In answer to the question: What does Alarma have on the horizon today? The answer is: spaghetti sauces, veggie burgers, cereals, soft drinks are developing, fruit and energy bars, muffins, pet foods... these are huge markets. As a food extender the uses are almost endless.

“Neil Shay the Phd Food Chemist, Director of Food Science and Human Nutrition Department at the University of Florida at Gainesville has CitraFiber products and is doing much testing. For instance our product has an antioxidant rating of almost twice that of blueberries. Blueberries are basically the benchmark for antioxidants. Thousands of dollars have been spent on conducting nutrition analyses. It’s 83 percent fiber which is extremely high. Of that, 30% is soluble fiber which reduces LDL cholesterol.”

Gluten-free ‘flour’
Jones adds, “And this is real exciting: I heard about Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas, trying to create gluten-free bread. They have our product now and are in the midst of running the formulation. Also, a major soup company is already testing our products, as well as a couple soft drink companies. This with the ‘flour’ interest is more than a little exciting.”

The latest International Food Technologies Show this summer was hosted in New Orleans and it was more than a little thrilling for Robert and Victor to witness the interest shown by potential customers at that show.

Victor Shough, Vice-President and General Manager, comes to the operation from Blue Lake Citrus where he was plant manager.

The CitraFiber plant is extremely energy efficient. No ground water is used, no solid waste is produced, and we employ the most efficient solid product dryer in the industry.

Jones says, “The water we use to do our processing is chemical free. We use the water that’s in the peel. Citrus peel is naturally 80 percent water.
“We feel that the timing is right for all our product(s). We live in an impatient society, historically a wasteful one as well. Times are changing and what was important ‘yesterday’ has now caused problems.

“The industry needs a good shot in the arm. Duda is very excited about what we’re doing. They can truthfully say we’re environmentally friendly; we have a new healthful and versatile product coming out of our plant.

“A key point is we’re all natural. Our process creates products more valuable than the juice. What we’re making is nutritional enhancement products which are safe and good for your health.

“So you see there is something new under the sun .... the sun of the sunshine state!” Jones adds.

Stay tuned... there’s more coming sooner than later!