Harvested apples sometimes have poor appearance, inconsistent taste and flavor, and unstable quality, resulting in low selling prices and low market competitiveness. I believe those who are interested have noticed that more and more packaging plants in the apple industry have begun to use mechanical sorting to improve product quality and production efficiency.
What is Apple Grading?
Grading is to divide harvested fruits into several neat categories according to shape, size, color, damage, etc. according to relevant standards, so that the specifications and quality of fruits in the same category are consistent, and standardization of production and sales is achieved.
What is the basis for grading apple fruits?
Different varieties, different regions, and different markets have different apple grading standards. But the basic requirements are: the fruit is intact and good, fresh and clean, has no peculiar smell, is free of insects and diseases, is fully developed, and has a maturity suitable for market or storage requirements. Generally, grading is based on fruit shape, freshness, color, quality, pests and diseases, mechanical damage and fruit size. Specific implementation can be carried out in accordance with relevant standards promulgated by different countries.
What are the methods for grading apples?
1. Manual grading
There are two manual grading methods: one is the visual inspection method, which relies on human visual judgment to grade fruits according to their color and size. The second is to use a fruit selection board for grading. The grading board has round holes of different specifications with diameters ranging from 60 mm to 100 mm, with a difference of 5 mm at each level. When grading, just put the fruits into the holes and drain them. The fruits graded by this method have basically the same size in the same grade, with small deviations.
2. Mechanical grading
The use of apple sorting machines not only reduces manual pressure, but also improves sorting efficiency and accuracy.
(1) Weight sorting machine
Apple fruits are sorted according to their weight. The weight of the selected fruits is compared with the preset weight and the grades are graded. There are different types of weight sorting devices, such as mechanical scales and electronic scales.
(2) Optical grading machine
The apple sorter uses an intelligent system to screen and grade the external qualities of apples such as color, shape, size, bruises, and rot. Workers only need to sort and package the graded apples in a unified manner.
The Fstsort fruit processing line can easily process a variety of fruits on the same machine. With proper scheduling, calibration machines can be used year-round according to the seasonality of the fruit, rather than purchasing multiple sorting machines for each fruit type.
We already work closely with customers in over 50 countries to provide right-sized apple processing solutions that match their budgets and production capabilities. Our single and dual lane apple sorting machines are ideal for small to medium-sized businesses on a tight budget. We generally use smart modular designs to enable our customers to expand to larger fruit sorting lines in the future.