EU project produces gentle potato sorting system

Brussels, 06 Aug 2003

An EU funded project has succeeded in developing a new potato sorting system which inflicts less damage than traditional systems on the potatoes passing through it.

The DECOP project was funded under the Fifth Framework Programme's Growth Programme, and involved universities, research institutes, machine suppliers and food producers from Germany, Spain, Finland, Poland, Denmark and the Czech Republic.

The new system meets a demand from the potato processing industry and the food retail sector for a more gentle sorting of potatoes.

'The technical goal is the development of a filter sorting system with an additional visual selection process,' explained Elmar Schmid from ttz Bremerhaven's environment institute, one of the project partners. 'So DECOP will, for example, recognise individual potato varieties from their form, fix the mass flow rate and programme the method of filtering.' This new method will significantly reduce the damage done to potatoes.

'DECOP is a prime example of application oriented technology transfer,' added Werner Mlodzianowski, chairman of ttz Bremerhaven. 'Representatives from all branches, from machine builders to the end producers, have come together with scientific experts in order to bring an innovative, market viable product to life.'

A prototype of the technology will be on display at the AGRITECHNICA congress in Hanover in November.

CORDIS RTD-NEWS / © European Communities