Abstract:Litchis are harvested by hands in bunches during harvesting seasons. However, litchis for exportation are required to be separated. In order to realize the separation of litchi bunches, a mechanical litchi stemming machine was designed, in which a combing vibration method was used. Fresh litchi bunches were purchased and on the same day, separation efficiency tests were carried out respectively by hand stemming and machine stemming under four vibration frequencies. The results showed that 20 Hz was the best vibration frequency for mechanical stemming, and the separation efficiency was about 3 times more than that of hand stemming. The damage rate of the fruits was less than 6%. The mechanical damage tests and the storage tests were conducted with the litchis separated by hands and machine. The modulus of elasticity was measured and showed no change after the fruits were separated by the machine, which indicated that no serious mechanical damage was caused by the machine during the separation process. During the preservation process, the browning index, weight loss rate and soluble solid content of litchis separated by hands and machine under the frequency of 20 Hz showed no significant difference, indicating mechanical stemming had no significant influence on the preservation of the litchis.