Comparison of reusable and single‐use plastic and paper shipping containers for distribution of fresh pineapples

Abstract

This paper presents the effects of different packaging systems and fruit orientation on bruising and pre-cooling time of pineapples during distribution. The package types studied were reusable plastic containers, single-use paper corrugated containers and plastic foam containers (FCs). Simulated vibration tests were performed to evaluate the shipping containers on their protective performances. After the vibration tests, pineapples were evaluated for bruise damage and decay during storage for 5 days. Pineapple fleshes were also evaluated for bruise volume and changes in colour, firmness, total soluble solids content (TSS) and titratable acidity (TA) after storage of 5 days. Bruise damage was more intense as the storage time increased. Package types had significant effects (p ≤ 0.05) on bruise damage of pineapples. The corrugated containers showed the best protective performance for pineapples, while the FCs showed the worst. The corrugated containers with paperboard partitions showed the lowest damage levels as compared to other package types studied. Foam-net cushion reduced bruise damage of pineapples. L values and firmness of pineapple flesh were highly associated with degree of bruising. The results suggested that slight bruising on the skin may signify severe bruising on the flesh and bruising accelerated decay in pineapples. Orientation did not show a significant effect (p ≤ 0.05) on bruising. The highest pre-cooling rates were observed in the reusable plastic containers, while the slowest rates were observed in the single-use paper containers. The results indicated that careful handling in the proper packaging with optimum cushion can minimize bruise damage and decay of pineapples after shipments.

Measurement and evaluation of the effect of vibration on fruits in transit—Review

“…Frequently measured physiological changes were the effect on respiration rate, fruit weight, fruit firmness, ethylene production, cell wall permeability, enzyme activity, total soluble solids (TSS), and titratable acidity (TA). 11,50,51,57 Most of these physiological changes in fruits have been primarily caused by mechanical damage due to the experienced vibration. External damage caused by vibration stresses has been assessed visually as a percentage, 8,15,37,52 length and width of damage, 16 bruise diameter and equivalent bruise index, 10,14 bruise depth, 39 percentage decay of the modulus elasticity (PDME), 68 bruise area, bruise volume and package damage, 22 abrasion rating, 14 or a bruise score 8,33 as summarized in Table 1.…”

“…In many studies, the measured or the dependent variables were related to the effect on produce such as physiological changes or external damage. Frequently measured physiological changes were the effect on respiration rate, fruit weight, fruit firmness, ethylene production, cell wall permeability, enzyme activity, total soluble solids (TSS), and titratable acidity (TA) . Most of these physiological changes in fruits have been primarily caused by mechanical damage due to the experienced vibration.…”

Polyphenoloxidase activity in peaches after vibration

“…Considering the importance of such losses and the need for better packaging design tools, many other investigations for agricultural products based on mechanical damages were performed in the last years, some of them focused on the product performance (BERARDINELLI et al, 2005;FERREIRA et al, 2006;GOMES, 2006;ZHOU et al, 2007;FERRAZ & LACERDA, 2007;SANCHES et al, 2008;VALENTINI et al, 2009) and others focused on packaging design (CHONHENCHOB et al, 2008;JARIMOPAS et al, 2008;THOMPSON et al, 2008;ZHOU et al, 2008). They somewhat used conventional approaches either to investigate the response of the vegetable tissue solely or the produce-package system by evaluating changes in physical-chemical properties after a mechanical stress.…”

Cost and Waste Comparison of Reusable and Disposable Shipping Containers for Cut Flowers

“…Reusable packaging is a large investment and must be carefully controlled and cost justified. 16 Previous studies compare reusable and disposable packaging, focusing on their protective performance 17,18 or on the environmental impacts. [19][20][21] Mollenkopf et al 22 reviewed several studies about the economic justification of reusable containers using the net present value (NPV) approach; however, the results are not general because they are related to specific situations.…”