Assessment of physical, mechanical, and hydrodynamic properties in reducing postharvest losses of cantaloupe (Cucumis melo var. Cantaloupensis)

Abstract

Today, preserving the quality and reducing the losses of agricultural products is an important topic and has attracted the attention of many scholars in the field. This study aims at investigating the engineering properties (physical, mechanical, and hydrodynamic properties) of cantaloupe in order to manage and reduce the losses that is produced postharvest. The results show that the mean values physical properties measured for the geometric mean diameter, arithmetic mean diameter, sphericity, surface area, volume, and true density of the cantaloupes were 130.13 mm, 130.26 mm, 0.94%, 53,367.59 mm 2 , 633.30 cm 3 , and 0.83 g/cm 3 , respectively. Maximum force required for bruising and shearing cantaloupes in the investigation of their mechanical properties were 248.20 and 108.30 N. The hydrodynamic properties of cantaloupes such as the terminal velocity, the cantaloupes' rise time in the water column, the buoyance force and the drag force were obtained to be equal to 0.12 m/s, 4.10 S, 6.21 N, and 0.11 N, respectively. The results obtained through this study can be used in designing harvest machines, optimization, processing, transport, separation of impurities, and grading equipment for the purpose of reducing cantaloupe waste. Practical applicationsOf the 67 million tons of agricultural production in Iran, 20 million tons of it are turned into waste in the postharvest stage. That is the equivalent of food of 20 million people. Fruits are among the most important horticultural products that play an important role in supplying human nutrition and human health. Failure to review the engineering properties of agricultural products (physical, mechanical, and hydrodynamic properties) are the most important factors in increasing the agricultural waste at the postharvest stage. The physical properties of agricultural products are essential for the design and optimization of harvesting and postharvesting machinery, separating, transferring, grading, and drying processes. Mechanical properties can be useful in designing machinery and equipment for transportation and displacement of the product. Hydrodynamic properties can be useful for transfer, separation and grading by water in order to reduce processing costs and reduce cantaloupe waste.

Potato creep analysis during storage using experimental measurement and finite element method (FEM)

“…The weight of the specimens was measured and their volume was measured by fluid displacement with water. True density of the samples was calculated by Equation (2) (Jahanbakhshi, Abbaspour‐Gilandeh, et al, 2019a). where ρ is the true density (kg/m 3 ), M is the mass (kg), and V is the volume of the potatoes (m 3 ).…”

“…Fruits and vegetables are among the most important horticultural products that play an important role in providing human nutrition and health. This group of agricultural products is corruptible due to high moisture content and thus 5 to 50% of them spoil in the postharvest period (Azarmdel, Jahanbakhshi, Mohtasebi, & Muñoz, 2020; Jahanbakhshi, Abbaspour‐Gilandeh, Ghamari, & Heidarbeigi, 2019a; Jahanbakhshi & Salehi, 2019; Salehi, Taghizadeh‐Alisaraei, Jahanbakhshi, & Shahidi, 2018). Therefore, reducing agricultural product waste requires modifying the production chain from the garden or farm to the storage place and then the transportation and marketing processes.…”

“…Therefore, reducing agricultural product waste requires modifying the production chain from the garden or farm to the storage place and then the transportation and marketing processes. Raising the technical knowledge of producers, storage keepers, fruit and vegetable field managers, retailers, and ultimately that of the consumers is an effective step in reducing product waste (Jahanbakhshi, Abbaspour‐Gilandeh, et al, 2019a; Momeny, Jahanbakhshi, Jafarnezhad, & Zhang, 2020).…”

Determination of the creep behavior of potato tubers during storage period by means of uniaxial and triaxial creep tests

“…The weight and the volume of the specimens were measured by fluid displacement with water. True density of the samples was calculated by the Equation 2 (Jahanbakhshi, Abbaspour‐Gilandeh, Ghamari, & Heidarbeigi, ).where: ρ : true density, kg/m 3 ; M : weight of sample, kg; V : sample volume, m 3 .…”

Processing watermelon waste using Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast and the fermentation method for bioethanol production

“…The most abundant and cheapest source for the production of bioethanol is agricultural waste that is left after harvesting products such as corn, wheat, cantaloupe, barley, rice, potatoes, beans, vegetables, etc. (Chintagunta, Jacob, & Banerjee, ; Jahanbakhshi, Abbaspour‐Gilandeh, Ghamari, & Heidarbeigi, ; Najafi, Ghobadian, Tavakoli, & Yusaf, ; Salehi, Taghizadeh‐Alisaraei, Jahanbakhshi, & Shahidi, ; Smuga‐Kogut et al, ).…”