Since most goods are transported and stored in a unit-load form in today’s global supply chain, there has been a growing concern regarding the compression strength of corrugated paperboard boxes for packaging of agricultural products. The best predictor of the compression strength of corrugated boxes is the edgewise compression test (ECT) value; therefore, its efficient measurement or prediction is crucial for the design of more efficient corrugated boxes for food and agricultural and industrial products. This study investigated the edgewise compression behavior (load vs. displacement plot, ECT, and failure mechanism) of corrugated paperboard based on different types of testing standards and flute types using finite element analysis (FEA) and experimental analysis. The results of this study showed that the magnitude of the ECT values produced by the FEA was different from the values produced by the experiment. The difference in the ECT can be possibly explained by layer thickness approximations, together with glue line width assumptions between fluting and the liners in the numerical models. However, the trends of the values were the same. If the material properties of corrugated paperboard components and modeling methods of the corrugated paperboard are further studied, the FE (finite element)-based simulation technique will be a useful alternative tool that can replace the edgewise compression test.

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Purpose:The characteristics of in-transit vibration stress and possible damage to packaged apples were examined. Methods: A simulated transportation environment with a specific power density profile was used for vibration impact experiments to determine the resulting decrease in packaged apple quality. Apples with or without vibration stress were stored at low temperature (5 ± 0.8℃, 75-85% relative humidity) for 30 days. Statistically significant differences (p ≤ 0.05) were found between apples with and without vibration stress for concentration of oxygen (O2; 11.2% and 14.1%, respectively; initially 20.9 ± 0.4%), carbon dioxide (CO2; 26.4% and 21.8%; initially 1 ± 0.2%), and ethylene (79.4 µLL -1 and 55.6 µLL -1 ; initially 14.1 ± 0.6 µLL -1 ) in the headspace of a gas-collecting container after 30 days of storage. Results: Significant differences were also measured for apples with and without vibration stress with respect to soluble solid content (15.4% and 14.9%, respectively; initially 12.9 ± 0.8% and 13.1 ± 1.1%), weight loss (10.1% and 8.2%), and firmness (139.7 kPa and 163.3 kPa; initially 213.8 ± 6.2 kPa and 209.1 ± 7.9 kPa) after 30 days of storage. Conclusions: The vibration stress clearly accelerated the degradation of apple quality during storage, resulting in increased weight loss, soluble solid content, and headspace CO2 and ethylene production, and decreased firmness and headspace O2.

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This study was conducted to analyze the ultrasonic transmitted signal for apple using wavelet transform. Fruit consists of non-linear visco-elastic properties such as flesh, an ovary and rind and hence most ultrasonic wave is attenuated and its frequency is shifted during passing the fruit. Thus it was not easy to evaluate the internal quality of the fruit using typical ultrasonic parameters such as wave velocity, attenuation, and frequency spectrum. The discrete wavelet transform was applied to the ultrasonic transmitted signal for apple. The magnitude of the first peak frequency of the wavelet basis from the ultrasonic transmitted signal showed a close correlation to the storage time of apple.

Purpose:The compression strength of corrugated fiberboard containers used to package agricultural products rapidly decreases owing to various environmental factors encountered during the distribution of unitized products. The main factors affecting compression strength are moisture absorption, long-term top load, and fatigue caused by shock and vibration during transport. This study characterized the durability of corrugated fiberboard containers for packaging fruits and vegetables under simulated transportation conditions. Methods: Compression tests were done after corrugated fiberboard containers containing fruit were vibrated by an electro-dynamic vibration test system using the power spectral density of routes typically traveled to transport fruits and vegetables in South Korea. Results: To predict loss of compression strength owing to vibration fatigue, a multiple nonlinear regression equation (r 2 = 0.9217, RMSE = 0.6347) was developed using three independent variables of initial container compression strength, namely top stacked weight, loading weight, and vibration time. To test the applicability of our model, we compared our experimental results with those obtained during a road test in which peaches were transported in corrugated containers. Conclusions: The comparison revealed a highly significant (p ≤ 0.05) relationship between the experimental and road-test results.

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