3. Implementation

Step 1.1 – Sorting, trimming and washing

The purpose of this operation is to prepare the fruit for processing. On the one hand, immature, damaged or rotten fruit must be removed. Secondly, raw fruit may contain undesirable fractions, such as skin (apple, pear), rind (pineapple, citrus), seeds (grape, melon), pits (peach, cherry, plum), achenes (strawberry, raspberry). From then on, they need to be peeled, skinned, seeded, stoned, hulled, sieved and so on. Specific machines are used to perform these functions, such as peeling machines (orange, kiwi), pitting machines with blades (mango), centrifugal sifters (blueberry, redcurrant), and so on. Larger fruits (apricot, peach) can also be cut into fragments to facilitate cooking. Before processing, the fruit is washed and drained to remove any residual undesirable fractions.