Green
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Sliced
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The green pistachio kernels must be mentioned in particular. The riper a pistachio becomes, the bigger the kernel will be, the colour changes from dark green to a light green/yellow. The meat, ice-cream, confectionery industry and the gastronomy are also interested in the green pistachio kernels used as eye-catchers for their products. USA partially did not supply any green kernels so far because of the high costs for the assortment needing a lot of manual labor.
In order to obtain very green kernels, the pistachios are picked unripe − approx. a month before the normal harvest. The pistachio kernel is very green and a little bit smaller, so that the shell does not open by itself. After harvest the the shell must be mechanically cracked by a mill. Kernels with the violet skin coming out of the shells, are swayed in hot water, so that the violet skin becomes loose. It is only loosened, but not yet taken off. The elimination of the skin is by means of vibration and suction. The pistachios run over vibrating steel slabs so that the loose skin comes off. As the skin is lighter than the kernels it can be sucked away.
Another step of processing is the assortment by a laser scanner to get light and darker green coloured kernels which are afterwards manually divided into 5 different colour categories. In addition the percentage of broken kernels is a quality’s factor. The fewer broken kernels are in the merchandise, the higher the value.
In order to obtain very green kernels, the pistachios are picked unripe − approx. a month before the normal harvest. The pistachio kernel is very green and a little bit smaller, so that the shell does not open by itself. After harvest the the shell must be mechanically cracked by a mill. Kernels with the violet skin coming out of the shells, are swayed in hot water, so that the violet skin becomes loose. It is only loosened, but not yet taken off. The elimination of the skin is by means of vibration and suction. The pistachios run over vibrating steel slabs so that the loose skin comes off. As the skin is lighter than the kernels it can be sucked away.
Another step of processing is the assortment by a laser scanner to get light and darker green coloured kernels which are afterwards manually divided into 5 different colour categories. In addition the percentage of broken kernels is a quality’s factor. The fewer broken kernels are in the merchandise, the higher the value.
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