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Tangerines
Packaging & Transportation
Image courtesy of www.sun-world.com
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When the bins of mandarin oranges reach the packinghouse, they are poured onto a series of moving rollers to be sorted by size.
Mandarins that are too small drop into a bin to be used for juicing. Fruits that have spoiled are also removed.
Then the mandarins are washed.
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The first step in washing is to loosen the dirt on the outer skin in a bath. Then the fruit go through a shower to wash off the remaining dirt.
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Image courtesy of www.triplecgroves.com
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Next, the mandarins get thoroughly scrubbed on a “ brush bed” using soap, water, and a series of brushes that spin the fruit around vigorously so they are thoroughly cleaned.
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After a thorough rinse, the cleaned fruit is dried by either passing through a series of warm dryers or by a sponge roll that soaks up the extra water.
Then the fruit is graded (sorted) again – this time by hand. Fruit that is too small or have blemishes are removed and used for juicing.
During washing, most of the fruit’s natural wax is removed. This wax must be replaced or the fruit will dry out and spoil very quickly. Some waxes are sprayed on, others are brushed on, and sometimes the fruit is dipped! Then the wax is dried onto the fruit by a “wax-setter”.
Then a stamp-rolling machine stamps the fruit. Sometimes the stamps are put on by hand. Can you imagine putting a sticker on all of those fruits? Wow!
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Image courtesy of www.sun-world.com
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After stamping, the fruit is sorted by size one more time, and then packed and shipped to local grocery stores.
Next time you’re at the grocery, pick out a mandarin or tangerine to try!
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