Khoa is obtained by heating and
condensing milk in an open tank. Khoa comes in various textures like
granular texture, fine texture and khoa with low moisture content. It is
prepared both from cow's milk and water buffalo's milk and is used as
base for many Indian sweets. Normally it is white or pale yellow color.
Khoa is prepared both manually and mechanically. Different methods are
involved in different level of production of khoa like: tray method for
rural applications, roller process for small entrepreneurs and spray
drying for large scale production. The equipments used for preparing
khoa are :
- Heat Exchangers
- Open Pan
- Pumping Tube
- Rotors
- Blades
- Evaporators
- Displacement pump
In modern dairy industry, through pressure-driven membrane
separation processes lot of dairy products are produced. Applying
reverse osmosis, khoa is processed. In industrial production of khoa,
milk is dried in a big can using heat exchanger system. The capacity of
the system depends upon the mass-flow rate of milk, steam pressure,
rotor speed and number of blades.
Concentration of milk in an open pan is energy intensive. Double effect
evaporators or pressure driven membrane separation process of reverse
osmosis is considered as more feasible than open can drying because
concentration of milk in an open can is more energy intensive.
