New technologies to improve efficiency on cherry sorting and packing lines

Sweet cherries sorting and packing is one of the most demanding and challenging practices in terms of hand labor, gentleness and quality control. On recent years, sweet cherry production has rapidly increased in several countries worldwide, together with increasing costs and scarcity of qualified hand labor. At the same time, consumers are more and more demanding in terms of quality produce, and new consumer markets for cherries have appeared in the fruit trade industry, especially in the Far East. All these factors have opened new scenarios and challenges for cherry packers, who consequently found in their current packing facilities and practices two of the most important constraints to the increase of their packed cherries quality. Thanks to new quality sorting and packing technologies specifically developed for cherries, it has been possible to improve dramatically the quality and the shelf-life of packed produce, allowing European, South and North American cherry packers to export their produce even to far away and demanding markets, such as China and Japan. Among these new sorting technologies that have allowed this revolution in cherry industry, one of the most important is Cherry_Vision, a non destructive system that enables internal and external quality detection, with extreme gentleness and preserving the organoleptic characteristics of cherries. Apart from Cherry_Vision, several other technologies have been specially designed and developed for cherry packers: nowadays these can be considered compulsory to make their business efficient and successful, bringing an added value to the entire sector, from the packer to the final consumer. Source V Postharvest Unlimited, ISHS International Conference, 10-13 June 2014, Cyprus, http://web.cut.ac.cy/postharvest/UNITECKey wordsPoscosecha    postcosecha    postharvest    na-oes    ?? ??? ??????    ??        post-récolte    ???? ?? ?????????        na-oogst    post-raccolta    Obróbka po    pós-colheita    ??????????????    hasat sonras?        Ernte    ??????????????    ???? ???????????    postcollita    poskliz?ové    ??    ?? ?        nakon branja    pozberové        obdelovanje zemlje po    post-colleita    ????? ?????    pascapanen    Éilíonn postharvest    ????    p?c ra?as    derliaus apdirbimas po    lepas tuai    ?? ?? ??????    post-recoltare    ?????? ?????    ?????????????????    ???????????    ???????????????    sau thu ho?ch    ???????????????    zangemva kwenkathi yokuvunaCereza        cherry cherries       kers    ?????    ??       ?erizo    cerise    ??????    ????       kers       ciliegia    wi?nia       cereja    ?????    kiraz    ????    Kirsche