Comparison of package cushioning materials to protect post‐harvest impact damage to apples

Abstract

Damage to fruits and vegetables continues to be a big challenge as global markets become a reality.Worldwide distribution of sensitive produce is faced with various levels of impacts from shipping and handling. Despite a variety of packaging options available today, bruising damage is commonplace for post-harvest apples throughout the supply chain. The major sources of bruising are compression, impact or vibration forces. Understanding where these forces occur can help reduce this type of mechanical damage to apples. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact characteristics of foam net and corrugated board when applied as wrapping for individual apples. Two grades (count numbers 80 and 100) of "Fuji" cultivar apples imported to Thailand from China were studied. A simple ballistic pendulum test device was developed to measure bruise volume to impact energy relationship. A linear relationship for both types of apples was observed. Bruise volume occurrence probability and impact This is the pre-peer reviewed version of the following article: Jarimopas, B., Singh, S. P., Sayasoonthorn, S. and Singh, J. (2007), Comparison of package cushioning materials to protect post-harvest impact damage to apples. Packaging Technology and Science, 20: 315-324. doi: 10.1002/pts.760, which has been published in final form at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/pts.760/abstract energy relationship fitted by linear regression were created for cushioned and bare apples. Absorbed energy of various cushioning materials was also calculated under compressive forces.

A brief review on palletized products transportation technology

“…Some of the most relevant forces can be found in regular products while in carriage are due to: sloshing, vibration and shocks [1,4,20,25,26,27,28]. The present work will mostly cover these three sources, since other forces do not affect the conditions of products as much as the aforementioned ones.…”

“…They are the second major source of mechanical damage to apples, behind only of compressive forces due to apple to apple contact [26].…”

“…The research proposed to investigate bruise volume versus impact energy comparing six combinations of cushioning: bare fruit (BF), foam net (FN), new double-wall corrugated board (NDW), single face corrugated board with flute on the inside (SFI), single face corrugated board with flute on the outside (SFO) and used double-wall corrugated board (UDW). The results show that impact varies greatly when different cushioning materials are used to prevent shock [26], as shown in Figure 9. Shock events are captured with the same instrument as the one used to monitor vibration levels.…”

Impactos al fruto de aguacate ‘hass’ en la línea de empacado y su efecto en la calidad postcosecha

“…Por ejemplo, en cítricos y manzanas, se ha estudiado la magnitud de los impactos y las vibraciones (Bollen et al, 2001), la influencia de los materiales y los contenedores, los impactos entre frutos, la susceptibilidad al daño mecánico y la relación de los factores anteriores con la calidad del fruto en madurez de consumo ( Van-Zeebroeck et al, 2007). Sin embargo, para los frutos frescos, el mayor desafío es la detección y prevención de los impactos en la línea de selección-empacado (Jarimopas et al, 2007). Esto debido a que la inspección, detección y…”

“…For example, in citrus and apples, the magnitude of impacts and vibrations has been studied (Bollen et al, 2001), the influence of materials and containers, impacts among fruits, susceptibility to mechanical damage and relationship of the previous factors with fruit quality at maturity of consumption ( Van-Zeebroeck et al, 2007). However, for fresh fruits, the major challenge is the detection and prevention of impacts on the selection-packaging line (Jarimopas et al, 2007). This is because inspection, detection and adjustments to machinery, materials and containers are performed by non-standardized maintenance personnel, leading to inappropriate and inconsistent corrections.…”