To improve extraction efficiency and shorten the leaching time of tea's active components, high-temperature water extraction is generally used in tea extraction. Under specific conditions of temperature, time, and stirring, active components such as tea polysaccharides, tea polyphenols, and trace elements are leached from the tea leaves. The clarity of the extracted tea broth is not high due to the simultaneous leaching of pectin, fibers, and other impurities, thus further clarification and impurity removal are required. The concentrated tea juice commonly purchased online is a high-concentration product obtained by concentrating the extraction liquid. Using our company's instant tea powder production line in Yunnan Pu'er as an example, this article explains the domestic processes of tea extraction, filtration, and concentration for those who need to understand and learn.

      Traditional tea extraction processes involve coarse filtration using plate and frame filters or diatomaceous earth after extraction, followed by thin-film evaporation or other vacuum concentration methods to obtain concentrated tea liquid. However, the resulting tea liquid has poor clarity and low purity. Thin-film thermal evaporation damages the components of the material, resulting in poor taste, and the energy consumption for concentration is high. Generally, evaporating one ton of water requires 0.8–1 ton of steam, meaning the dehydration cost ranges between 260–300 RMB.

       Currently, tea extraction production lines incorporate advanced membrane separation technology to improve quality and achieve energy savings and consumption reduction. For example, the production process of an instant tea powder production line for a Pu'er tea company client is as follows:

      Tea extraction → Centrifugation → Ceramic membrane filtration → Nanofiltration membrane concentration → Vacuum concentration → Drying

      Tea liquid has complex components and high requirements for product flavor. Using ceramic membrane filtration combined with nanofiltration membrane concentration to replace traditional thin-film evaporation processes can remove impurities such as colloids, large-molecule雜proteins, and fibers from the extraction liquid while preserving the active components of the tea liquid. This achieves physical clarification and purification. The filtrate entering the nanofiltration membrane system can enhance component concentration and yield. While maintaining the original flavor of the tea liquid, energy consumption is significantly reduced. Generally, the energy cost for membrane concentration to remove one ton of water is between 8–15 RMB. Treating 20 tons of tea liquid with nanofiltration membrane technology can yield approximately 2.5 tons of concentrated liquid at 15% concentration. If the concentration requirement is not met, further vacuum concentration with a smaller scale is selected. The powder obtained after drying the concentrated liquid has good dispersibility, high purity, dissolves quickly in water, and exhibits high clarity.

       For more inquiries about Tea Deep Processing Extraction Technology and Equipment, please contact Zhang Gong from Chongqing Jiahe Filtration Technology Co., Ltd. I will provide tailored solutions based on your specific needs. Friends are also welcome to visit our company to see the actual equipment or conduct on-site samples to observe the separation effects.