Advances in Research

The economic feasibility of a vacuum osmotic dehydration (VOD)-based processing system for pineapple slices was evaluated for potential small-scale application. The developed VOD unit had a batch capacity of 8 kg and a fabrication cost of ₹66,700. Economic assessment was undertaken for the complete processing system, including the VOD unit, vacuum dryer, packaging equipment, utensils and associated infrastructure. The estimated fixed capital investment was ₹3,87,700, while the annual working capital requirement was ₹10,94,100. Based on an operating schedule of 8 h per day and 25 working days per month, the annual production cost was estimated at ₹11,63,816. At the assumed selling price of ₹610 kg⁻¹, the estimated annual revenue was ₹16,46,194.8, resulting in an annual net return of ₹4,82,378.8. The corresponding benefit–cost ratio was 1.40 and the return on revenue was 29.30%. The estimated break-even point was 27.58%, while the payback period was 0.74 years under the assumptions used in the analysis. The calculated production cost of vacuum osmotically dehydrated and vacuum-dried pineapple slices was approximately ₹431 kg⁻¹. These results indicate that the proposed processing system may have potential for small-scale pineapple value addition under the stated production, cost and selling-price assumptions. Further evaluation under varying raw-material, energy, product-recovery and market-price conditions would be useful for assessing the robustness of the projected economic performance.