Ketchup

Ketchup

Bowl of fresh ketchup next to a fresh tomato and garlic bulb

Ketchup (catsup) is produced from tomatoes with the addition of vinegar, sugar, and spices. It is used as a condiment and as a basis for other sauces. 

Ketchup is famously a non-Newtonian, thixotropic (shear-thinning) fluid, thick under static conditions, then when agitated the viscosity is reduced, returning to the viscous state when static again. Its viscosity ranges from up to 50,000 cPs while static to around 5,000 cPs when agitated, with specific gravity about 1.13. It is acidic, with a pH ranging from 3.6 to 3.9. 

Ketchup may be made from fresh tomatoes or from concentrated tomato pulp or paste, with the addition of salt, sugar, vinegar, and spices according to each manufacturer’s recipe.  

Hygienic positive displacement pumps are required for this highly viscous product. Their rotating lobes or circumferential pistons create large cavities that gently transport the tomato product through the pump with a minimum of shear stress. They are self-priming and can develop the high pressures needed to pass this viscous product through downstream piping and processes. They are made of stainless steel which is impervious to the low pH of ketchup. In addition, they can be easily cleaned in place or strip cleaned to maintain process hygiene. They are available with very high capacities and variable speed drives which allow simple flow rate control in proportion to the line speed. 

Viking in the Process

Viking hygienic pumps are used in the processing of ketchup from fresh, ripe tomatoes as well as from tomato paste. They pump tomato pulp from breaking through filtration, blending, homogenization and pasteurization to packaging. Or they pump paste through blending and pasteurization to packaging.

    Applications

    • Tomato processing and transfer
    • Tomato paste transfer
    • Ketchup processing and transfer

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