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This paper presents an analysis of mechanical damage carried out on 'Golden Delicious' apple variety, which was subjected to impact loads during free drop against various rigid plates. For this purpose, an analysis of the contact pressure based on determined contours and surface pressure distributions at the contact point between the fruit dropped from various heights against fixed hard plates was performed. The impact test was conducted by means of Tekscan® system supported by computer verifying analysis. To obtain impact loads as well as their courses, the surface pressures and the bruise volumes were determined. Furthermore, use of ultrathin pressure sensors allowed for determination of the characteristic shape of contact area and the impact of fruit onto rigid plate. The results showed that the impact of fruit against rigid surface (concrete, wood) generates high values of maximum surface pressure and the bruise volume, observed at dropping from 10 mm. A decrease in hardness of the test material (polyethylene foam) with decreasing maximum surface pressure approximately twice was noticed. The polyethylene foam is one of the best materials which protect fruit from mechanical damage, confirmed by the relation of bruise surface to contact surface, which did not exceed 35% during the impact at 150 mm. The results of proposed studies can contribute to developing of harvest, handling, and transport processes, aiming at reduction in losses among fruit growers and production costs, i.e., by improvement of transport method.

Biological material is exposed to different type loads during the harvesting, sorting, and transport. The contact with the hard element of the box or the harvester causes damage to the internal structure. Long-term static loads and hitting by another carrot root are the most common type of mechanical damage occurring in the post-harvest process. Because of the characteristic shape of agricultural products, compression force focused on a small area. The main purpose of this study was to determine the discrete model of carrot root as well as to verify it based on the displacement distribution.For determining an experimental model, the collected data were statistically processed. To verify the obtained model, the COSMOS/M software was applied. As a result of this study, a calculation model was presented, which allowed the assessment of surface pressures on the carrot root area, which occurred during the contact with different shaped elements in selected phases of technology process. ARTICLE HISTORY

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