Spanish olive processor Grupo Elayo is extracting the seeds from inside olive pits using Sortex technology from the Bühler Group.

"Until now, the olive pit and seed inside were discarded as waste," explains Jose Maria Olmo Peinado, "but were working on developing new products based on the seeds. They can be consumed raw or toasted as a snack, or used in energy bars or cookies in a similar way to pumpkin seeds."

Bühlers InGaAs camera technology is able to detect the subtlest differences in colour not visible to the human eye, making it possible to distinguish the olive seeds from the stones and seeds with embedded stone fragments.

Grupo Elayo installed Bühlers Sortex sorting technology, with the process comprising three stages. After the stones are broken, the mix of stone fragments and seeds is conveyed into the first chute of the sorting machine wher the InGaAs cameras aid the separation of stones from seeds. This constitutes almost 90 per cent of the material. The remainder then undergoes another sort on the second chute to ensure only flawless seeds, without any pieces of stone, are sent on for further processing. The third chute re-sorts the rejected material to recover any seeds still attached to the stone so they can be sent back to the cracking machine and re-sorted to minimise wastage of the valuable seeds.