Comparison of Package Cushioning Materials to Protect Post-harvest Impact Damage to Apples

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 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

Development of Wholesale Packaging to Prevent Post-Harvest Damage to Rose Apples

The purpose of this research was to determine post-harvest damage to rose apples due to transportation hazards and to comparatively evaluate the performance of the current and proposed wholesale packaging for the fruit. The methodology comprised of sampling and conducting damage analysis of rose apples of two varieties (Thongsamsri and Toonklao) distributed using commercial packaging to various retailers and wholesalers selected at random around the Bangkok metropolitan areas. Three kinds of current wholesale packaging were packed with newly harvested, damage-free, and uniform sized Thongsamsri rose apples and tested using a vibration simulator. The same testing was performed for the two types of proposed wholesale packaging. Performance of both types of packaging was evaluated in terms of damage parameters. Results showed that the post-harvest damage was mainly in the form of bruising and abrasion. The average fruit damage and the average damage percentage of abrasion were higher than that of bruising at both the wholesaler and retailer levels. The average fruit damage and the average damage percentages at the retailer were greater than that at the wholesaler for both varieties. Majority of the damage seen in the current packaging was a combination of bruising and abrasion. The proposed packaging uses diagonally horizontal fruit orientation which imparts a minimum bruising with negligible abrasion