Tropical Millenium, based in Malaga, is a company
which has been dedicated to subtropical products since 2002, working mainly with avocado and mango imported from several countries.
For their new warehouse, they wanted a modern and innovative system that would allow the detection of ripe fruit ready for consumption. For this delicate job, they trusted Aweta.
The system is composed by a Rollestar grader and an Acoustic Firmness Sensor (AFS)
Several years ago, Aweta introduced the non destructive Acoustic Firmness Sensor (AFS), a dry matter sensor, to determine the internal quality and taste experience of avocados and mangoes.
AFS was originally introduced to analyze the internal quality of apples, but has quickly developed to be a “Ready to Eat” sensor for avocados and mangoes.
In the past, the degree of ripeness of these products was determined only by means of impact measurement. However, impact measurement provided superficial information about the products. As mangoes and avocados ripen from the inside, predictions on the ripening process were hard to make with only impact measurements.
By adding the acoustic measurement to the impact measurement, Aweta provide a complete product analysis.
The combination of acoustic analysis from the inner side and impact measurement on the skin allows Aweta to judge when a mango or avocado should be delivered to the supermarket, because it is ready to eat.
The ripening process of the avocados and mangoes is, among other issues, related to the amount of dry matter present in the products. The more dry matter present in the product at harvesting, the quicker the fruit will ripen. Knowing the amount of dry matter in each product, growers and/or packing houses are able to judge which products can be transported over a long distance or whether they should be sold locally.
The dry matter content of a mango also relates to its sugar level. A product with a higher dry matter value will provide higher sugar content at the end.
For avocados the dry matter content is directly related to the amount of oil. Avocados with higher oil content are proven to taste better than products with lower oil content.
To allow growers and re-packers to make the best judgement about the ripening process of their products, but also about the (future) taste of each product, Aweta has developed a dry matter sensor. This sensor can be combined with the AFS measurement, to provide a complete picture about the product.
Internal Quality sorting & AFS & Inscan benefits :
All the above measurements are provided on line at the speed of 6 products per second.- Real time product quality monitoring & reduction of destructive tests that deliver weak statistical information based on product samples.
- Real time product quality monitoring & reduction of destructive tests that deliver weak statistical information based on product samples.
- Decision tools for storage management and marketing
- Quality sorting & Extraction of niche products in order to create demand or segregate markets
- Detection of internal physiological defects permit good fruits to be reclaimed from stocks containing unacceptable defect levels.
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