The present invention relates to a process for working and sanifying products, in particular agricultural-foodstuff products, specifically products with shell and with or without a component for coating the shell, generically called "hull".

The invention also relates to sanifying the product, in addition to the separation of the coating hull from the fruit shell and to the removal of the hull from the external part of the fruit shall, and to sanifying a product without hull, with a method that allows, through a suitable use and dosage of sanifying agents, sanifying the product and destroying all mildews, bacterial charges and all polluting agents, that create the problem of developing micotoxins and aflatoxins and that make the product uneatable and danregous for human health, taking it back to accepted values by international standards in force, and in any case reducing it at its minimum possible value.

Such method, according to suitable variations to plants and doses, can be used also on products with shell or already unshelled, or also on dried fruit, mentioning, as a non-limiting example, the dates.

The working systems currently known in the field have inconveniences deriving from the fact that, for every working step, the product is worked under inadequate hygienic-health conditions and temperatures, and this implies a first problem. Moreover, currently used working steps, with existing technologies, favour the increase and development of polluting agents and the contamination of further, possibly healthy product. The field in which the present invention opertes refers in particular to technical systems currently and generically in use with specific plants and lines, mentioning, as a non-limiting example, working of pistachios, that are similar or. different in the various countries where the products are produced, both in their preparation, and in the process of removing the coating hull of the shell and of washing and possibly sanifying .

Currently and generally used systems, that perform the so-called ^j "sanifying process", provide for the solution of specific chemical additives for every type of products and for every quantitative and qualitative program, with related problems of chemical residues damaging human health; as a non-limiting example, we can mention residues of chlorides, or washing with hydrogen dioxide, that modify the product organoleptic characteristics, changing its appearance and taste. Still in other countries, washing with flowing water or recirculating water is performed, ofter inadequate to solving the sanifying problems. In other further cases, they are dry-treated with air cleaning or by applying gases such as methyl bromide or sulphuration, with high health risks. The so-called common and generic working process, designated as "receiving, de-hulling or pre- cleaning, drying, dividing and separating various products, finally drying, calibrating, storing and packaging ", compulsorily determines working with single machines for every type and every size of product of every quality, mentioning as example, pistachios, nuts, and- other shelled products such as hazel nuts, almonds, peanuts, cashew nuts, Brasilian nuts, pine seeds, cocoa, fresh fruit like dates, etc.

Such currently used working system does not allow obtaining an healthy product, creating great dangers for human health, in addition to refusals of customs and health responsibles, with the additional problem of creating further economic costs.

As most relevant prior art, US-B1-6 527 124 discloses an apparatus for separating and cleaning pistachios by immersion in a liquid, mechanical treatment, separation of blanks and cleaning by spraying of fresh water.

Therefore, object of the present invention is solving the above prior-art problems by providing a process and a system for sanifying products, and their safety operation with a suitable packaging in a protected environment .

The present invention allows the sanifying process and the reduction to values accepted by international regulations in force, with the reduction of the current problem to its minimum possible amount. The present invention further allows making a perfectly healthy agricultural-foodstuff product, with a better quality with respect to the one obtained with existing systems, not dangerous for human health, with a method that allows sanifying without leaving on the product chemical residuals or other residuals dangerous for human health.

The above and other objects and advantages of the invention, as will appear from the following description, are obtained with a process and a system as claimed in the respective independent Claims. Preferred embodiments and non-trivial variations of the present invention are claimed in the dependent Claims .

The present invention will be better described by some preferred embodiments thereof, given as a non- limiting example, with reference to the enclosed drawings, in which Figure 1 shows a schematic preferred view of the system of the present invention.

With reference to Figure 1, a preferred, but not limiting, embodiment is shown of the system that allows performing the process for working and transforming agricultural-foodstuff products of the present invention.

Such process performs the sanifying of a product, in time and doses of a sanifying agent, that is made different according to product quality and size, its initial pollution degree, and that can change depending on seasonal climatic condition, production areas and many other factors. The inventive process consists in arranging and contacting, or in moving for contacting, through any transport and handling process, any type of product with shell, and/or with hull for coating the shell, or an already unshelled product, with such a specific material as to destroy mildews, bacterial charges and all polluting agents responsible for product degeneration. In particular, but not in a limiting way, such specific material is ozone, suitably mixed with water or mixed with air, in adequate doses, times and temperatures, depending on the pollution degree of the product to be sanified. With this innovative sanifying solution, the process allows the immediate, or alomst immediate, reduction of the polluting amount, performed in one or more process steps, depending on the product to be sanified, and with the final safety packaging of the sanified product.

The inventive process is performed with two different and possible main embodiments; according to the first embodiment, the process comprises the following steps : supplying the product received from cropping in a field; producing or dosing elements for creating a liquid mixture for sanifying the product to be sanified, said liquid sanifying mixture comprising ozone and water or other liquid gases compatible with foodstuff working, and allowing to sanify the agricultural-foodstuff products without leaving damaging residuals;

- possibly de-hulling through a mechanical technology, with the help of sanifying liquid; sanifying the de-hulled product and separating the empty or half-empty products with the help of sanifying liquid, and then with the sanifying liquid mixture; sanifying the product, with or without shell, with or without hull, through contact with a sanifying liquid, and then with a sanifying mixture in a liquid state; drying at controlled temperature and parameters; separating closed products from opened products; dividing the products by size and choosing the products by quality; finally drying at controlled temperature and parameters; storing under stabilised conditions, or packaging under stabilised conditions up to weights of 1000 kg.

The second preferred embodiment of the inventive process provides, instead of the liquid mixture of ozone and water or similar liquids, a gasoues mixture of ozone and air or similar gases, and in detail the steps of such second process are: supplying the product received from cropping in a field; producing or dosing elements for creating a gaseous mixture for sanifying the product to be sanified, said gaseous sanifying mixture comprising ozone and air or other gases compatible with foodstuff working, and allowing to sanify the agricultural-foodstuff products without leaving damaging residuals; possibly de-hulling through a mechanical technology, with the help of sanifying liquid; sanifying the de-hulled product and separating the empty or half-empty products with the help of sanifying liquid, and then with the sanifying mixture in a liquid or gaseous state; sanifying the product, with or without shell, with or without hull, through contact with the sanifying gas mixture; drying at controlled temperature and parameters; separating closed products from opened products; dividing the products by size and choosing the products by quality; finally drying at controlled temperature and parameters; and storing under stabilised conditions, or packaging under stabilised conditions up to weights of 1000 kg.

Sanifying cycles and their related dosing, temperature and time parameters depend on the type of product to be sanified and its pollution degree.

As shown in Figure 1, the system 1 is adapted to be used for performing the first embodiment of the process for sanifying and transforming agricultural-foodstuff products in a shell or shelled, with or without coating hull, as described above; therefore, the system 1 substantially comprises: means 2 for supplying the product received from cropping in a field; means 3 for producing or dosing elements for creating a liquid mixture for sanifying the product to be sanified, where the liquid sanifying mixture comprise ozone and water or other liquid gases compatible with foodstuff working, and allowing to sanify the agricultural- foodstuff products without leaving damaging residuals; means 4 for possibly de-hulling through a mechanical technology, with the help of sanifying liquid; means 5 for sanifying the de-hulled product and separating the empty or half-empty products with the help of sanifying liquid, and then with the sanifying liquid mixture; means 5 for sanifying the product, with or without shell, with or without hull, through contact with a sanifying liquid, and then with a sanifying mixture in a liquid state; means 6 for drying at controlled temperature and parameters; means 7 for separating closed products from opened products; means 8 for dividing the products by size and choosing the products by quality; means 9 for finally drying at controlled temperature and parameters; means 10 for storing under stabilised conditions, or packaging under stabilised conditions up to weights of 1000 kg.

The same system 1 of Figure 1 can be used for performing the second preferred embodiment of the above process for sanifying and transforming agricultural- foodstuff products in a shell or shelled, with or without coating hull; the system 1 then comprises: means 2 for supplying the product received from cropping in a field; means 3 for producing or dosing elements for creating a gaseous mixture for sanifying the product to be sanified, said gaseous sanifying mixture comprising ozone and air or other gases compatible with foodstuff working, and allowing to sanify the agricultural-foodstuff products without leaving damaging residuals; means 4 for possibly de-hulling through a mechanical technology, with the help of sanifying liquid; means 5 for sanifying the de-hulled product and separating the empty or half-empty products with the help of sanifying liquid, and then with Ia sanifying mixture in a liquid or gaseous state; means 5 for sanifying the product, with or without shell, with or without hull, through contact with the sanifying gas mixture; means 6 for drying at controlled temperature and parameters; means 7 for separating closed products from opened products; means 8 for dividing the products by size and choosing the products by quality; means 9 for finally drying at controlled temperature and parameters; means 10 for storing under stabilised conditions, or packaging under stabilised conditions up to weights of 1000 kg.

In particular, the agricultural-foodstuff products, with which the process and system of the invention operate, are pistachios, hazel nuts, almonds, peanuts, nuts, cashew nuts, Brasilian nuts, pine seeds, cocoa and dates .