The picking process is a very important link in the production process of ketchup, which directly affects the quality of the finished product. It is also the only process in the ketchup production line where the degree of automation is low and the number of people is relatively concentrated. In the traditional tomato ketchup production line, tomatoes need to be hand-picked to pick out green fruit after cleaning, and high-quality raw materials enter the crushing process. If the disease is unsuccessful, the selection of green fruits is not complete, which will easily cause the impact of the acidity and sugar content of the tomato sauce products, and will also increase the degree of microbial contamination of the raw materials and threaten the microbial contamination of the finished products.

In the selection process, a special picking equipment, an associated waste transportation equipment, and a cleaning water returning device are required. The area is relatively large.

Under normal conditions, the tomato ketchup production line that processes 2 tons of raw materials per hour needs at least 2 persons for each shift in the picking process to ensure the picking effect. And because workers need to maintain a high degree of mental concentration for a long time, they also have to suffer the effects of bad odors caused by rotting. The labor intensity is very large and it is difficult to ensure that the work is always efficient.

The color selection equipment is a very mature screening equipment. The main working principle is to use the photoelectric detection technology to automatically sort the individual color differences in the product based on the difference in the optical characteristics of the product. According to the principle of technology, different color sorters can be divided into (1) traditional photoelectric technology color sorters; (2) CCD technology color sorters; (3) infrared technology color sorters; (4) X-ray technology color sorters.

The traditional photoelectric technology color sorter and CCD technology color sorter are suitable for the screening of tomato raw materials. For rotten fruit, green fruit, grass stem, etc. have a good rejection effect.

The use of color sorters instead of manual picking equipment can avoid human error errors and false positives. Compared with manual equipment, the equipment can always maintain good work efficiency and low management costs, which can increase the automation level of the production line and reduce the cost of the enterprise.

The main disadvantage is that the initial investment in the equipment is relatively large, especially in the transformation and upgrading of the production line, the need to purchase new equipment into the production line, capital investment.

The need for professional and technical personnel to carry out maintenance is not obvious on the production line already equipped with professional production line maintenance personnel. Maintenance personnel can quickly master the maintenance of color selection equipment through study.

In the domestic labor cost rising year by year, and the market price of tomato sauce products increasing slowly, the shortcomings of the color sorters in terms of funding and maintenance become less and less obvious. The efficient processing capacity of equipment and the time for cost recovery through replacement labor are getting shorter and shorter. The color sorter is the first choice for further upgrading of tomato sauce. Specially suitable for medium to large ketchup production lines with a daily processing capacity of over 600 tons.