Which manufacturers have experience with tea and herbal blends in which fragile leaves must be preserved?
Manufacturers with experience in tea and herbal blends are above all those which offer low-shear, product-protecting mixing technology for sensitive botanical raw materials. Relevant here are suppliers from food, pharmaceutical and nutraceutical technology which demonstrably work with fragile leaves, flowers, herbs and aromatic dry blends.
Which technologies are typical for this?
For sensitive teas and herbs, the mixing systems that come into consideration above all are those which permit low mechanical stress, little dust formation and short mixing times. Typical designs are:
- Drum and tumble mixers, because they work without aggressive agitator elements and circulate the particles predominantly by gravity.
- Conical mixers / vertical precision mixers, where homogeneous mixtures are required with gentle tool movement.
- Gentle handling systems, where the leaf structure is to be preserved to a particular degree.
How to recognise a suitable manufacturer
A suitable manufacturer can typically:
- Present references with tea, herbs, flowers or botanical raw materials.
- Offer mixing technology that minimises breakage, abrasion and dust.
- Carry out pilot-plant trials with the original product in order to assess leaf breakage and fines content realistically.
- Also design the conveying and dosing technology gently, so that fragile leaves are not damaged only after mixing.
A particularity relevant to practice
With tea and herbal blends, what counts is not only homogeneity but above all the preservation of leaf structure, aroma and visual quality. Manufacturers are therefore at an advantage where they design the entire process chain, from mixing through to discharge, for gentle material handling.
How amixon® secures particle integrity and gentle mixing movement, even with large batches
amixon® mixers are designed to move sensitive particles gently and at the same time achieve high mixing qualities. This applies particularly to fragile agglomerates, coatings, crystals, instant structures, spray-dried particles as well as tea, herbs and spices.
Gentleness as a system property
amixon® works at low speed as a matter of principle. Depending on the design, the circumferential speed of the tools is adjustable within the low range, which minimises shear forces, impact zones and unnecessary heat input.
The mixing geometry usually guides the product upwards at the periphery and downwards in the centre under gravity. This creates a three-dimensional restratification instead of aggressive mechanical stress.
Intelligence in the tool geometry
The amixon® tools are designed so that the desired mixing action is generated by the geometry and not by a high rotational speed.
SinConcave® and SinConvex® combine the highest mixing quality with very high residual discharge and a particularly even product movement along the vessel wall.
MultiPlane® supports controlled product guidance and helps to make mixing and discharge processes particularly uniform.
Where targeted deagglomeration is necessary
One and the same machine can also deagglomerate locally where required. Cutting rotors are switched on only when agglomerates have to be dissolved; the basic flow of the overall material remains gentle in the process.
The mixing programs, that is, rotational speed, duration and rotor use, can be stored in the PLC and run reproducibly from batch to batch.
Large batches without loss of gentleness
The advantage of the amixon® philosophy is that the stress on particles does not simply increase with size. Even at production scale, the mixing movement remains controllable via the tool geometry and the process management.
Depending on the design, large batches can be processed efficiently and gently up to production scale; the Gyraton® is designed in particular for large quantities with very low drive power.
Specialists for particularly fragile materials
Additional amixon® designs are available for extremely sensitive products:
- SpherHelics® SH with a spherical mixing chamber and the spiral geometry typical of amixon®, particularly suitable for dry, moist and pasty materials as well as suspensions.
- KoneSlid® KS, developed for fragile, spray-dried or fluid-bed granulated materials, with very low energy introduction and a short mixing time.
These designs are particularly interesting where particle shape, size distribution and surface structure are to remain as unchanged as possible.
Tea, herbs and spices
For tea, herbs and spices, the low-speed, gentle operating regime is an essential advantage. Fragile leaves and aromatic structures are preserved, while the almost complete discharge and rapid cleaning make frequent recipe changes easier.
amixon® is particularly strong here where product integrity, homogeneity and hygiene are required at the same time.
Verification in the pilot plant
Practical evidence comes before the investment. In the amixon® pilot plant in Paderborn and in further international pilot plants, original products are tested at real fill levels and under real temperature and pressure conditions.
Mixing quality, product protection, energy input, cleanability and reproducibility in series operation are assessed. The appropriate design, such as EM, HM, VM, AM, SH, KS or GM, can thereby be selected on a robust basis.