Cherry pitting machine: why the setting differs on soft fruit

Cherries and sour cherries are soft, juicy fruit, so a pitting machine that suits dried fruit does not automatically suit them. The cherry and sour cherry pitting machine works fully automatically and removes the pits without hands touching the product. This article explains what the setting depends on and why it is settled with a trial rather than copied from a datasheet.

In a dried apricot or a date the flesh holds its shape to a degree. In a fresh cherry the flesh is wet and delicate, and at the point where the pit leaves, the fruit can easily crush, release juice or tear. That is why the same machine logic does not give the same result on two different products, and why the setting is discussed product by product.

Pitting is rarely only about getting the pit out clean. It is also about keeping the fruit whole enough for what comes next. Jam, frozen fruit, canned fruit and drying each accept a different appearance, and that expectation is the first item in any setting discussion.

According to the catalogue record, the machine runs fully automatically and takes the pits out without hands touching the product. Compared with pitting by hand it reduces the labour needed. How much it reduces depends on the plant and the shift pattern, so no figure is given here.

• 01The body is AISI 304 stainless steel; product-contact surfaces are AISI 304, with AISI 316 optional where the process requires it.
• 02It uses a motor drive and a 380 V / 50 Hz supply.
• 03Control can be PLC-based or stand-alone; if the machine will be tied to other machines in a line, the PLC version is the one to discuss.
• 04Capacity is set per project and is not published as a fixed value.

The stainless steel statement covers the product-contact surfaces only, not every part of the machine.

On soft fruit the setting cannot be described with one dial. Several product characteristics are read together, and most of them come from the incoming fruit rather than the machine, so they only become clear once the first sample arrives.

• 01Ripeness: fully ripe fruit is softer and more prone to crushing.
• 02Size and variety: small and large fruit do not give the same result at the same setting; fruit arriving in mixed sizes can be separated by size first.
• 03Temperature and surface moisture: fruit coming straight from washing or from a cold store behaves differently.
• 04Stems and leaves: fruit that has not been cleaned before feeding carries foreign matter into the pitting section.
• 05Next process: whether the pitted fruit is accepted whole or halved decides how tight the setting needs to be.

Giving setting values in writing would be misleading, because the result depends on the condition of the fruit in that particular season. For that reason Mekatronik Makina fixes the exact values at the quotation stage and again at commissioning, with the plant's own fruit. One value in a catalogue does not cover a whole production season.

When the fruit changes during the season, the setting is reviewed again. Early-season and late-season fruit may not arrive at the same ripeness, so it helps if the operator knows the setting window and leaves a note at shift handover.

No. The catalogue lists the date pitting machine as a separate record, and because the fruit structure is different the two machines are not interchangeable. Both sit in the pitting machines category, and the choice starts with the product.

Pitting comes after washing and sorting, so the fruit should enter the machine free of stems and leaves. Soft fruit leaves juice and flesh residue, which makes cleaning a more frequent and regular task than with dried fruit. If the cleaning interval is not written into the shift plan, residue builds up, fruit sticks in the machine and the setting seems to have drifted, when the real cause is often the cleaning interval.

Stainless product-contact surfaces make cleaning easier, but the cleaning method and the agents used are decided by the plant's own food safety plan. If the setting note, the cleaning record and the maintenance interval are kept in the same shift log, results can be compared across the season.

Does the machine run cherries and sour cherries at the same setting? The catalogue lists both under one machine, but because hardness and fruit structure differ, the setting is confirmed per product. Are the pits removed without hands touching the fruit? Yes, that is the recorded operating principle. Can capacity be calculated for you? Capacity is project-specific and is discussed once daily fruit volume, shift count and the rest of the line are known.

Which steel is used on product-contact surfaces? AISI 304, with AISI 316 considered as an option where the process needs it. Beyond that, what we need from you is the type of fruit and the process that follows pitting.

Tell us which fruit you process, what happens to it after pitting and your daily volume, and we will settle the setting and capacity together. You can use the quotation page for this. Mekatronik Makina has worked since 1992 and has more than 2,000 machines in the field.