Testing equipment for the improvement of mechanical devices to minimize damage to fruit in commercial packing lines.

Damages -reduced in fruit packing lines is a major cause of grace reduction and quality loos in fresh marks: fruit. Fruit must be treated gently during in sir handling to improve their qualityin order to get a good price in a competitive market. The correct post-hardvest handling in fruit packing lines is a prerequisite to cut down the heavy post-harvest losses. Fruit packing lines must be evaluated, studying their design, the impacts applied to the fruits, the characteristics of the materials, etc. This study establishes the possibility of carrying out modifications and tests in a packing line during a long period of time. For this purpose, an experimental fruit packing line has been designed and located in the Agricultural Engineering Department of the Polythecnic University of Madrid with the aim of improving mechanical devices and fruit handling conditions to minimize damage to fruit. The experimental line consists of several transporting belts, one rollers transporter, one sizer, one elevator, one singularizer, and three trays to receive the calibrated fruit. The line has a length of 6.15 m and a width cf 1.9 m. Movement of the different components is regulated by electric motors with variable velocity electronically controlled. The height of the transfer points is variable and can be easily modified. The experimental line has been calibrated using two instrumented spheres IS 100 (8.8 cm Ø and6.2cm Ø). Average acceleration values obtained in all the transfers of the experimental line lay under 80 g's, although there is big variation for some of them being some values above 100 g's

Fruit firmness and skin resistance of processing tomato varieties tested in Badajoz (Spain), related to mechanical harvesting.

Determinations of resistance to damage were carried out in a total of 31 tomato varieties for processing, with the purpose of choosing the most suitable ones for mechanical harvesting. The characteristics studied include: puncture, deformation and rupture of the fruits, the ease of detachment of the fruits also being determined. Seventeen varieties were chosen, for further tests, with values 0.76 to 1.7 2 N of resistance to puncture; 3 to 9 N/mm of resistance to compression and 2.16 to 29.40 N resistance to detachment

Impacto de la eficiencia en el consumo de biomasa en el sector celulosa chileno

On the basis of official statistics, and data obtained directly of the companies of the sector cellulose Kraft, there are shown the characteristics of the use of biomass like energetic waste matter used by the sector. There are identified volumes, sources, costs and there are obtained Specific Consumer’s indicators of Energy, for type of energy, and the impact of the efficiency in the generation of electricity. The most relevant aspects of the study reflect an inadequate energetic management and incorporation of technology only with objectives of physical increase of the production without an exact conscience that all energy saved in processes is possible to sell it as electricity. The impact of a use at minor levels of efficiency, in the consumption of energy, meant for the year 2002 a reduction of sales of surpluses of electricity of about 85%.En base a estadísticas oficiales, y datos obtenidos directamente de las empresas del sector celulosa Kraft, se exponen las características de biomasa como desechos energéticos utilizados por el sector. Se identifican volúmenes, fuentes, costos y se obtienen indicadores de Consumo Específico de Energía, por tipo de energía, y el impacto de la eficiencia en la generación de electricidad. Los aspectos más relevantes del estudio reflejan una inadecuada gestión energética e incorporación de tecnología sólo con objetivos de aumento físico de la producción, sin tener en consideración de que toda energía ahorrada en procesos es posible venderla como electricidad. El impacto de un uso a menores niveles de eficiencia, en el consumo de energía, significó en el año 2002 menores venta de excedentes de electricidad del orden de un 85%

Lateral impact sensor for measuring firmness of fruits in an experimental packing line.

Different parameters are used to quantify the maturity of fruits at or near harvest (shape, color, flesh texture and internal composition). Flesh firmness is a critical handling parameter for fruits such as peach, pear and apple. Results of previous studies conducted by different researchers have shown that impact techniques can be used to evaluate firmness of fruits. A prototype impact system for firmness sorting of fruits was developed by Chen and Ruiz-Altisent (Chen et al, 1996). This sensor was mounted and tested successfully on a 3 m section of a commercial conveyor belt (Chen et al, 1998). This is a further development of the on-line impact system for firmness sorting of fruits. The design of the sensor has been improved and it has been mounted on a experimental fruit packing line (Ortiz-Cañavate et al 1999)

Non-destructive technologies for fruit and vegetable size determination - a review

Here, we review different methods for non-destructive horticultural produce size determination, focusing on electronic technologies capable of measuring fruit volume. The usefulness of produce size estimation is justified and a comprehensive classification system of the existing electronic techniques to determine dimensional size is proposed. The different systems identified are compared in terms of their versatility, precision and throughput. There is general agreement in considering that online measurement of axes, perimeter and projected area has now been achieved. Nevertheless, rapid and accurate volume determination of irregular-shaped produce, as needed for density sorting, has only become available in the past few years. An important application of density measurement is soluble solids content (SSC) sorting. If the range of SSC in the batch is narrow and a large number of classes are desired, accurate volume determination becomes important. A good alternative for fruit three-dimensional surface reconstruction, from which volume and surface area can be computed, is the combination of height profiles from a range sensor with a two-dimensional object image boundary from a solid-state camera (brightness image) or from the range sensor itself (intensity image). However, one of the most promising technologies in this field is 3-D multispectral scanning, which combines multispectral data with 3-D surface reconstructio

Nota corta. Eficiencia de la pulverización neumática con un pulverizador en arco en plantaciones de manzanos de alta densidad

In order to optimise an over-the-row pneumatic sprayer working in high-density apple tree orchards, tests have been conducted to study the deposition and distribution of its droplets. Field tests were conducted in an "artificial orchard" made with wooden posts and in an orchard of high density apple trees. To evaluate the quality of distribution, colored water droplets were collected on white plastic cards, which were then photographed. The effect of the angle between nozzle orientation and travel path on droplet deposition around wooden posts was studied. It was also studied the influence of air speed on the deposition on the apple trees and the drift and slide down of droplets. Tests show that the best nozzle position to get a uniform coverage around wooden posts which simulate tree trunks is face to face. This position also creates a tunnel of turbulence made by the wind without any physical wall. An air speed of 55 m sE1 at the exit of the nozzles is the best to get uniform deposition of droplets in all areas of the trees. An smaller air speed of 41 m sE1 gives a worse deposition on the back of the leaves, while a larger air speed of 63 m sE1 gives a poor deposition on the outside leaves and can detach fruits when they are present on the trees.Con el objetivo de optimizar un pulverizador neumático en arco trabajando en plantaciones de manzanos de alta densidad, se han hecho ensayos para estudiar la eficiencia de la pulverización y la distribución de las gotas. Los ensayos de campo se hicieron en una "plantación artificial" hecha con postes de madera ocupando el lugar de los árboles, y en una plantación de manzanos de alta densidad. Para evaluar la calidad de la distribución se recogieron gotas de agua coloreada en pequeñas láminas de plástico que fueron fotografiadas inmediatamente después de la aplicación. Se estudió el efecto de la orientación de las toberas respecto a la dirección de avance sobre la deposición de gotas alrededor de los postes de madera. También se estudió la influencia de la velocidad del aire sobre la deposición de gotas en varias posiciones de los manzanos y sobre la deriva y el escurrimiento de las gotas. Los ensayos mostraron que la mejor posición de las toberas para obtener una deposición uniforme alrededor de los postes o los troncos es enfrentadas entre sí. Esta colocación crea un túnel de turbulencia que hace que el viento quede concentrado en el espacio entre toberas. La velocidad del aire de 55 m sE1 a la salida de las toberas fue la que obtuvo una distribución de gotas más uniforme en todos los puntos de los árboles. La velocidad más lenta de 41 m sE1 produjo peor deposición en el envés de las hojas, mientras que la más rápida de 63 m sE1 originó menos deposición en las hojas del exterior del follaje y puede provocar el desprendimiento de frutos cuando estén presentes en los árboles

Organogenesis of the digestive tract in the white seabream, Diplodus sargus. Histological and histochemical approaches

14 páginas, 6 figuras, 3 tablas.The ontogeny of the digestive tract of the white seabream, Diplodus sargus during the larval development up to day 45 post-hatching (dph) has been studied using histological and histochemical techniques. The oesophageal goblet cells appeared around 6 dph and contained neutral and acid mucosubstances (PAS/diastase-PAS and Alcian Blue pH 2.5 positive reactions). An incipient stomach can be distinguished from 2 dph but the first sign of gastric gland development was detected around 13-15 dph, increasing in number and size by 22-23 dph. Gastric glands were concentrated in the cardiac stomach region and they had a high content of protein rich in tyrosine, arginine and tryptophan. Acidophilic supranuclear inclusions related to pynocitosis of proteins, were already observed in the intestinal cells of the posterior intestine around 4-6 dph (exogenous feeding) and they were present until 25 dph. The intestinal mucous cells appeared between 15-18 dph and contained a mixture of neutral and acid mucosubstances/glycoconjugates, carboxylated ones being more abundant than the sulphated ones. The stomach and gastric glands were fully developed by the first month of life marking the beginning of digestive features characteristic of the juvenile stage. Around 4-6 dph, glycogen, proteins and neutral lipids were observed in the granular cytoplasm of hepatocytes. Strongly acidophilic zymogen granules were also present, at this time, in the basophilic cytoplasm of the exocrine pancreatic acinar cells and contained abundant proteins, especially rich in arginine, tyrosine and tryptophan.This work was supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology, Spain (PN Project AGL2000-0697-C02-01).Peer reviewe

Short communication. Performance of pneumatic spraying with an over-the-row sprayer in high density apple tree orchards

Con el objetivo de optimizar un pulverizador neumático en arco trabajando en plantaciones de manzanos de alta densidad, se han hecho ensayos para estudiar la eficiencia de la pulverización y la distribución de las gotas. Los ensayos de campo se hicieron en una «plantación artificial» hecha con postes de madera ocupando el lugar de los árboles, y en una plantación de manzanos de alta densidad. Para evaluar la calidad de la distribución se recogieron gotas de agua coloreada en pequeñas láminas de plástico que fueron fotografiadas inmediatamente después de la aplicación. Se estudió el efecto de la orientación de las toberas respecto a la dirección de avance sobre la deposición de gotas alrededor de los postes de madera. También se estudió la influencia de la velocidad del aire sobre la deposición de gotas en varias posiciones de los manzanos y sobre la deriva y el escurrimiento de las gotas. Los ensayos mostraron que la mejor posición de las toberas para obtener una deposición uniforme alrededor de los postes o los troncos es enfrentadas entre sí. Esta colocación crea un túnel de turbulencia que hace que el viento quede concentrado en el espacio entre toberas. La velocidad del aire de 55 m s¿1 a la salida de las toberas fue la que obtuvo una distribución de gotas más uniforme en todos los puntos de los árboles. La velocidad más lenta de 41 m s¿1 produjo peor deposición en el envés de las hojas, mientras que la más rápida de 63 m s¿1 originó menos deposición en las hojas del exterior del follaje y puede provocar el desprendimiento de frutos cuando estén presentes en los árboles