A few days ago, a set of customized equipment for black truffle processing officially rolled out of the Joyshine workshop and was packed for shipment to Australia. The system consists of a rotary drum brush washing machine and a tailored air-drying tunnel.
The client, David, operates a truffle orchard in Australia. With the harvest season bringing a significant surge in yield, traditional manual washing fell far short of the required speed, creating an urgent need for a semi-automated washing and drying solution. However, black truffles are an exceptionally delicate commodity—high in value, fragile in skin, and heavily coated with stubborn, irregular soil in their crevices. Conventional vegetable washers could easily bruise the outer skin, leading to a catastrophic loss in market value.
Upon understanding David’s throughput requirement of 200 kg/h and the specific physical traits of black truffles, our sales colleague Rachel worked closely with the technical team to fine-tune the equipment's structural details.
Standard rotary drum washers typically rely on material-to-material friction to dislodge dirt, which is a definitive dealbreaker for black truffles. To address this, we integrated medium-density soft bristles inside the drum. Combined with a gentle, slow-speed rotation and multi-angle spray manifolds, the truffles undergo a meticulous yet gentle scrubbing action. This setup effectively penetrates the irregular crevices to flush away mud and sand while ensuring the delicate skin remains completely unscathed.
Surface moisture control post-washing presented another technical challenge. High-value truffles cannot tolerate intense thermal airflow, which causes surface cracking and strips away their premium aroma. In response to this, the engineering team engineered a fully enclosed air-drying tunnel equipped with multiple arrays of ambient-temperature axial fans distributed across the top and sides. As the truffles move smoothly along the stainless steel mesh belt, uniform ambient air currents rapidly sweep away surface moisture without altering their internal quality, allowing them to proceed seamlessly to the next stage of packaging or cold-chain logistics.
Real-time testing: Gentle brushing and high-pressure spraying process for black truffles.
This customized line has now been successfully dispatched to Australia. The post-harvest handling and washing of high-value, delicate produce has always been a pronounced challenge in the food processing industry. If you are seeking similar non-standard machinery or customized post-harvest solutions, the Joyshine team stands ready to deliver professional technical support tailored to your needs.