Description

The evaluation and grading of tomatoes entering the processing plant, an operation which used to be carried out by the “forecourt overseer”, today, thanks to the introduction of our SV01 automatic waste and quality evaluation system, has become extremely more objective and full of evaluation parameters. The data gathered, not only provides a more rewarding economical evaluation of the delivered product, but also makes it possible to send the various loads to the most suitable processing lines and can be used to help with the making of agronomic decisions in the future. Furthermore, the information provided by our instrumentation is indispensible in the realization of food-chain traceability in accordance with Standard UNI 10939 for “Controlled Tomato Quality”. The modularity of the whole structure means it can be adapted to suit the individual characteristics of the reception area, while the various combinations of instruments installed inside the prefab module are able to meet all the requirements of company directives. The automatic probe for taking samples of the tomatoes delivered in bulk loads (mod. CC02), is indispensible for taking a representative sample of the whole load on which all evaluations will then be based. The coring element must be able to pick up the correct quantity of product from the overall load without any “grey areas” and without altering the characteristics of the product itself. Although there are a series of “compulsory” parameters, needed for establishing the conformity and quality of the tomatoes, the grading station can be set up to a high level of personalization, making sure it meets the most specific needs of the processor and the producer. The standard system for evaluating the batches of tomatoes is based on determining the percentage of “waste” (percentage of inert substances and certain fruit defects) and on the qualitative remuneration of the °Brix value, read to the second decimal point. Further parameters which can be measured, such as pH, colour and lycopene content, are used to improve management of the processing phases and for evaluating the tomatoes’ potential. At the end of the cycle the system will:

print out a provisional document for the deliverer which includes the personal data of the producer, the load data and the results of the relative evaluation; - interface with the central IT systems;
store the data on a hard disk for later processing in support of agronomic evaluation.
The entire evaluation cycle for a load can be carried out by a single person from inside the prefab module, but should the time available be less than the “linear” duration of the cycle, a second operator can be employed to partially overlap the cycle phases.

Technical features

Application:	Complete evaluation of the quality of a tomato juice sample reduced to juice and successive measurement of the "pH", and "Concentration" values and the "Colour", on delivery to the tomato processing industry.
Concentration measurement limits:	1.3330…1.3478 nD 0…10 Brix
Accuracy:	±0.0002 nD (± 0.15 Brix)
pH measurement:	2…14 pH; ±0.01
Power Supply:	AC 3/N/PE 400V ± 10% 50...60Hz 10kW