• Key Technology Inc

Wet Spinach Sorting System

Key Technology, an ISO-9001 certified company, has introduced its new Wet Spinach Sorting System for frozen and canned spinach processing lines. This integrated system includes an Iso-Flo® dewatering shaker, Flo-Belt, and Manta® sorter with laser technology and top and bottom cameras to inspect wet spinach after washing and maximize the removal of foreign material (FM) and leaf defects. Compared to sorting spinach before washing, this new system improves product quality and food safety while dramatically improving yield. After washing, this system removes mud from the spinach leaves, the clean product is fed to an Iso-Flo dewatering conveyor that removes most of the water and spreads leaves to feed the Flo-Belt. With Flo-Belt, fast-moving air elevates and separates the spinach leaves to reduce surface water, eliminate clumps, remove heavy FM, and spread product to feed Manta. Together, Iso-Flo and Flo-Belt removes 96 per cent of the water. On Manta, spinach leaves are inspected by fluorescence-sensing lasers and top- and bottom-mounted Vis/IR (visible infrared) cameras. The cameras recognize colour, size, and shape to detect a wide range of leaf defects and FM. The lasers recognize differences in objects’ structural properties to detect FM. Combining cameras and lasers on one platform maximizes the sorter’s capacity to remove unwanted objects such as insects, larvae, sticks, weeds, tree leaves, and product defects such as rot and discoloration. Two-sided viewing finds FM hiding under leaves. When the sorter identifies FM or a product defect, air jets pinpoint the object to reject and remove it from the acceptable product stream.