Mr Roberto Marcheselli, SACMI Imola, Italy : "Quality Control and Traceability"

Mr Roberto Marcheselli, SACMI Imola, Italy : "Quality Control and Traceability" The Italian company SACMI offers the so called NIR (Near Infra Red) technology to measure the parameters useful to define quality. Interview with Mr. Roberto Marcheselli. Fructidor : What are the quality parameters? R. Marcheselli : Presently most consumer weigh the fruit quality from an hedonistic point of view: that is from its aspect, dimension, consistency. We are now shifting the perception of quality from sight to taste and therefore other parameters are needed to grant satisfaction to consumers. These parameters can be: - sugar content - level of acidity - proper ratio between sugar content and acidity - ripeness and, therefore, juiciness of the fruit - lack of internal defects If the "hedonistic" parameters are controlled by widely diffused vision systems, the internal parameters defining the real fruit taste were - up to now - statistically measured through the destruction of the fruits. A small sample was taken from a lot and analysed by means of destructive methods and the results were kept as the average values of the whole lot. Today, thanks to the NIR technology, we can control each single fruit and divide the lot into different categories of fruits having homogenous characteristics. The parameters used to evaluate the internal quality have to be defined on the basis of the consumers' expectations and technology must be made available so as to be of help at a productive level. We must not forget that quality is made "on the field"and must be recognised by the consumers. The new technologies have just the purpose to control and to guarantee it. Fructidor : How does the NIR technology operate? R. Marcheselli : Our machines, based on the NIR technology, are real fruit processing lines that combine the measurement of physical parameters (i.e. diameter, weight) with the measurement of the fruit internal parameters such as brix degree, acidity, ripeness, pulp consistency, etc. Combining all these parameters, we can define quality standards that discriminate fruits the one from the others. To measure these parameters we use halogen lamps. Every single fruit is cross-sectioned by the light and it "responds" by providing information on its content without undergoing any damage or alteration. Obviously, the speed of these machines has to match with the processing lines and we can analyse up to 5 fruits per second. Fructidor : Who are your customers?

R. Marcheselli : This technology has been present in Europe since 2000 and was welcomed by those producers who not only have an high quality standard but who believe in the importance of certifying and guaranteeing it. These customers avail themselves of the results and of the data supplied by the machine as a feed back for the production of the next coming season. Fructidor : What advantages do these machines offer to producers? R. Marcheselli : Producers can obtain different benefits. The most remarkable is the recognition by the consumers of a guaranteed quality related to the sale price, that means a prize for a top quality production. This kind of advantage can represent an incentive to the investment for this technology. Another advantage, is the objective evaluation of quality that can give useful indication for the next coming productions and for choosing the most suitable cultivars. Fructidor : What are your guarantees in terms of traceability? R. Marcheselli : This technology adds quite important information to the concept of traceability. Further to the data concerning the product lot, it supplies the measurement of the internal parameters fruit by fruit. Fructidor : In 2005, traceability will be obligatory. Do you think Europe will be ready for it? R. Marcheselli : It's not up to us to establish whether Europe will be ready for this or not. In any case, what we see is a trend of the producers towards this direction and this not only to comply with the European rules but because many of them consider it as a mission. Already this year we will realise a complete fruit processing plant integrated with the NIR technology. Each ready package will have an identifying code reporting the traceability data and the horganoleptical parameters measured on each single fruit.