The Sinclair internal quality firmness tester (SIQ-FT) is a non-destructive system which measures the firmness of individual fruit at high speed while it is on the packing or grading line.
And research carried out by the Norwich-based firm has shown that SIQ-FT measurements of firmness and internal texture correlate well with consumer perceptions of texture and ripeness on trials with apples and avocados.
"The trial results are significant as they demonstrate the real ability of the SIQ-FT system in predicting consumer preferences," said Neil Winney, Sinclair iQ product manager. "We believe discovering what consumers think and prefer is key to driving future fruit sales."
As well as the consumer panel, Sinclair has also carried out tests involving a trained sensory panel, which rated fruit according to internal attributes. The results showed SIQ-FT correlated with sensory descriptors for apples and avocados.
SIQ-FT systems are now installed in several operations across the UK, the US, Chile, New Zealand, South Africa and continental Europe. Applications include avocado, apple, kiwifruit, stone fruit and mango.
"More and more fruit distributors and retailers are sitting up and taking notice of the non-destructive, firmness-testing technology available," said Winney.
SIQ-FT uses piezoelectric sensors to measure firmness around the circumference of every fruit on line and can sort produce into up to six firmness bands. It operates at commercial speeds of up to 10 fruit a second.
"By introducing SIQ-FT, our customers have been able to boost packhouse efficiency by reducing destructive sampling and labour costs," said Winney. "In turn retailers are supplied with consistent quality fruit of a specified firmness eliminating the costly rejection of produce considered too hard or too soft by consumers."
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