Mango is one of the most important fruits of India with a large annual production. However, India’s share in the world export market is not very significant. One major reason for this is our inability to ensure the quality of mangoes particularly the internal quality. Some Indian mango varieties like alphonso, totapuri and neelam suffer from physiological disorders like spongy tissue and seed weevil which affect their acceptability for internal and export markets. Thus inspection of mangoes for internal defects has great potential in improving the mango exports as well as providing better quality mangoes to the internal market. With this in view, an x-ray imaging based mango sorting system was developed. The system sorts mangoes based on internal defects such as seed weevil and spongy tissue.
Laboratory prototype has been developed & demonstrated to various stake holders. The system is useful for mango growers, processing industries, traders and exporters for sorting of mangoes particularly the export varieties based on internal defects like seed weevil infestation and spongy tissue. The technology may be utilized for other fruits also with suitable modifications. Technology has been transferred to a company for commercialization.
Salient Technical Features
- X-ray imaging system employed for continuous scanning of mangoes
- Integrated with mango sorting assembly
- Specially designed hardware for mango detection and sort control
- Dedicated software modules for image capture, image processing, analysis and sorting
- Image processing methods employed for sorting mangoes
- Image texture analysis and special features extraction to identify the defects
- User interactive menu driven software for calibration and scan settings
Competing Features
- Real-time automated system
- Sorts post-harvested mangoes especially export varieties
- Non-destructive X-ray imaging technique
- No health hazards – safe for consumption