NIR technology: fruit and vegetable quality control - from field to retail
Macfrut, the international fair dedicated to fruit and vegetable production, held in Cesena from 26th to 28th April 2007, proved to be the ideal showcase for Sacmi. Here, in Hall B on stands 188-189-190, we presented several solutions, covering everything from in-the-field inspection to packaging, providing visitors with a panorama of Sacmi's highly innovative fruit and vegetable processing know-how.
Pride of place went to the grader, developed via a joint technical-sales agreement between Sacmi and Sammo, a leading producer of fruit and vegetable processing machines. The exhibited grader, in fact, features advanced NIR (near infrared spectroscopy) technology: this allows detailed, non-destructive quality assessment of fruit and vegetable lots. NIR technology is suited to the needs of the entire fruit and vegetable production cycle as it allows the user to measure classic quality parameters such as brix and hardness and define new ones, such as dry content, starch, pulp colour etc.
A section of the stand was set aside for the portable version of this technology, the Nir Case: as the name suggests, this is a compact carry-case that lets the user evaluate quality in the field, the warehouse, during distribution and in the sales outlet.
