Extraction of tomato seeds – take care of your red gold
Not all treasures are silver and gold… in the seed world, some are red too! Tomato seeds are one of the most valuable and expensive seeds out there. Just think that with only one seed, you can get from 20 up to even 90 tomatoes. In fact, the price varies from 10 cents to 1 euro per seed, if it is a special variety.
In an automatic seed extraction process it is important that the seeds are not damaged creating seed loss. Therefore seed processing spent a lot of effort in engineering a new separation technology that preserves the quality of the seed.
Seed Processing Holland has designed a machine to extract tomato seeds that helps breeding, production and manufacturing stations extract small lots of tomato seeds (± 10 – 100 tomatoes) avoiding any seed damage. “The tomato fruit is crushed by means of rotating beaters that are blunt and treat the seeds with the care they need. Then, the 5 mm screen separates the pulp from the seeds and the 1 mm screen collects the seeds as the juice passes through.” explains Willem van Dok, Sales Account Manager.
The crushing speed can be slowed down according to the tomato you are processing (cherry tomatoes, vine tomatoes). The machine has a built-in water nozzle system that works during and after the extraction process, minimizing residue formation (gel membrane around the seeds). “It’s also easy to access for thorough inspection” Willem continues. To make sure there’s no tomato seed left behind, you can open the machine for cleaning to ensure contamination is reduced to 0%.
Smart design makes seed extraction a simple process!
Customer cases
In the 55-plus years of our existence, we have had the opportunity to carry out many projects for our global customers. From stand-alone machines to new seed processing lines. To make these projects a success, we have worked closely together with our customers to realise the desired solution that fits perfectly within the available space.
