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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Albany, California » Western Regional Research Center » Healthy Processed Foods Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #272939
Title: Advances in automated nut sorting

Author
item Toyofuku, Natsuko
item Haff, Ronald - Ron
item Pearson, Thomas

Submitted to: Book Chapter
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/1/2011
Publication Date: 11/14/2013
Citation: Toyofuku, N., Haff, R.P., Pearson, T.C. 2013. Advances in automated nut sorting. In: Sun, D. editor. Improving the Safety and Quality of Nuts. Philadelphia, PA. Woodhead Publishing. p. 230-244.

Interpretive Summary: Nuts in general, and tree nuts in particular, are a high value crop in many countries. Products with defects, contamination, insects or fungal damage can cause serious losses to producers, so almost all products are subjected to some level of sorting to remove these undesirable products. This chapter focuses on post harvest processing, specifically the advances in the removal of undesired nuts and contaminants from a nut processing stream via automated sorting, particularly those systems using computer vision and acoustic methods.

Technical Abstract: Nuts in general, and tree nuts in particular, are a high value crop in many countries. Products with defects, contamination, insects or fungal damage can cause serious losses to producers, so almost all products are subjected to some level of sorting to remove these undesirable products. This chapter focuses on post harvest processing, specifically the advances in the removal of undesired nuts and contaminants from a nut processing stream via automated sorting. Specifically, we will focus on these two specific methods: i) Computer Vision Based Sorting systems which use imaging devices (cameras x-rays, NIR, and laser imaging) to gather information about the product which is then analyzed by a computer and either accepted or rejected by a computer-controlled sorting device. ii) Acoustics Based Sorting systems use the noise signals generated by the product hitting an impact plate, which are analyzed by a computer and either accepted or rejected by a computer-controlled sorting device.