Define the boundary before calculating recovery
| Measurement | Basis to state | Common source of confusion |
|---|---|---|
| Incoming fruit | Mass at an identified receiving or prepared-fruit point | Debris, packaging and water carried with the fruit |
| Accepted juice or puree | Mass collected over the same operating interval | Changing retained pulp or drawing only a settled liquid layer |
| Liquid volume | Volume with its relevant temperature and density | Treating litres as kilograms without conversion |
| Evaporated water | Mass of water removed at stated feed and outlet conditions | Using feed flow as evaporation capacity |
| Packed output | Accepted filled product over a defined production window | Ignoring cleaning, package changes and start-up losses |
Collect the streams that explain the difference
An extraction balance may include prepared berries, accepted pulp or juice, seeds and skins, press cake, liquid remaining in equipment and any separately collected product. A clarification balance adds sediment and, if deliberately separated, a cream or other liquid phase. Include separator discharge events in the collection interval.
Wash water, thaw liquid and added process ingredients need their own accounting. A wet reject does not consist entirely of dry solids, and a higher collected juice mass may reflect added water or a different suspended-pulp content. Compare recoveries only when the product definition and receiving basis are consistent.
Use conserved solids for a conditional evaporation calculation
If a defined feed contains a measured mass fraction of conserved solids, and water is the only removed material, product mass equals feed mass multiplied by feed solids fraction and divided by product solids fraction. Water removed is the difference between feed and product mass. Real losses or other added and removed streams require extra terms.
Illustrative calculation only: a feed of 1,000 kg/h at 10% conserved solids by mass contains 100 kg/h of those solids. Concentrating it to 20% on the same basis gives 500 kg/h of product and removes 500 kg/h of water, assuming no solids loss or other streams. These are chosen arithmetic inputs, not sea buckthorn performance data or a machine rating.
A refractometer Brix reading represents an optical soluble-solids measurement. In a pulpy or oil-containing product it should not automatically be treated as the total conserved-solids mass fraction used above. Use a measurement method appropriate to the product and to the calculation.
Translate the balance into equipment connections
Buffers absorb a defined flow mismatch or interruption; they do not generate additional product. Size their useful volume around the expected event, then include the minimum level needed for transfer and the maximum acceptable product residence. Package changes can create a different buffer requirement from a short extraction fluctuation.
For acceptance, report the actual feed lot, operating interval, product specification and measured outputs together. Keep a stable-running rate separate from average packed output across a complete shift. This gives the press, separator, evaporator and filler rates an understandable relationship.