Blueberry sorting (technology and process)
Blueberry sorting – technology, efficiency and fruit quality
Blueberry sorting is a key stage in preparing fruit for sale, affecting both quality and shelf life.
A step-by-step overview of the blueberry sorting process: from feeding the fruit onto the line, through size, colour and quality assessment, to directing blueberries to the appropriate outputs.
A comparison of manual, mechanical, optical RGB and NIR sorting. The article shows which solution is suitable for small, medium and large-scale production.
An explanation of how near-infrared technology makes it possible to assess blueberry characteristics that are invisible to a standard camera, including firmness, structure and internal fruit quality.
A practical overview of the factors that affect the real throughput of a line: even feeding, smooth fruit flow, receiving capacity and the organisation of packing.
The article explains where losses occur during sorting: mechanical damage, incorrect classification and improper separation of fruit with reduced quality.
A description of the basic principles of sorter calibration: selecting samples, setting quality parameters and checking results on real fruit.
A description of how to set thresholds for size, colour, firmness and external and internal defects in order to reduce rejects and maintain consistent batch quality.