Fruit Quality Classification with Technological Interventions

Consumers always select and buy good quality fruits and vegetable. Selection criteria depend upon the freshness, shape, appearance, colour, aroma and sturdiness at the first go. The taste and the shelf life come after that.  

There are 16 parameters of the freshness. The seller always grade and sort out the good quality in one basket and the remaining in the second basket. The first one fetches good money, because that is the choice of the consumer. From the farm to the market, the criterion is same for the sellers. The intervention of the technologies had made the work of the sorter and grader simple to select the best quality fruits and vegetables.  The apples orchards in Kashmir or Himachal Pradesh or American depend on the same criteria.  

Recently the technology used by the Unisorting displayed the live show in a food show.  Fruit baskets usually hid unpleasant surprises: even though they were good-looking, the fruits within were not. The recent technological development has allowed us to avoid such a risk. Angelo Benedetti describes one of the optical selection technologies by Unitec. This technology can ‘go beyond’ the aesthetic appearance and analyze the inside of the produce, “For the cherry selection, for instance, we were able to exclude from the packaging process all those cherries affected by the Drosophila Suzuki fly which look normal but they have a little worm within”. These analysis processes are very short in terms of time thus allowing to manage large volumes while quickly intervene on bad produce. 

What if such a technology could ensure not only getting rid of bad produce but also improving its quality? This is the Unitec Group challenge. They want to use the power of technology to classify that excellent produce that can be marketed as premium.

During the Unitec press conference at Interpoma 2018, Benedetti, “For instance, we can distinguish the apples with those characteristics which will offer a superior taste to customers”. Considering an overproduction scenario, it is crucial to promote what remains unseen which will represent an incredible strategic advantage. 

At Interpoma 2018, Unitec Group presented its Unisorting branch, which is specialized in the development and manufacturing of high-performance innovative technology made for every phase of the apple processing. Unisorting showcased the Unical 8.0 technology equipped with the Apples Sort 3 system. Through high-res cameras, this technology allows classifying every apple internal and external qualities. Multiple parameters influence the selection: internal and external quality, shape defects and the different percentage of size and colour. 

Solfrutta is one of the Italian companies that recently implanted the Unical 8.0 technology. Solfrutta is a renowned company working within the horticultural sector for more than 30 years, both nationally and internationally. Benedetti, “We have been working together with Russia a lot. There, we contributed to the realization of large plants. The results for 2018 have been very satisfying”.