International Journal of Horticulture, 2017, Vol.7, No.13, 106-114
107
Golden Delicious is a widely adapted commercial cultivar of apple. In addition to this, it is profuse bloomers and
produces large amounts of fertile pollen, thus is used as best pollinizer for standard apples. In Nepal, climate is
very much suitable for the production of apple. Efforts have been made to increase production in high hills and
mountains. However, because of transportation problems, the produced fruits do not reach to the market in
normal condition. Postharvest losses due to inappropriate packaging are very high. Despite of great potentiality
for production, at present 99.0% of the apple fruits in the market are imported from China and India. To replace
import, Nepal has to develop its own packaging and transportation mechanism.
Apple growers of Nepal have not been receiving anticipated level of income because of higher postharvest loss
due to inappropriate traditional postharvest handling practices. Large amount of fruit losses occurs after harvest
and minimizing this loss could save over 25% of produce (Gurung, 1998). Gautam et al. (2004) reported that
58.2% apple fruits damage during harvesting, handling, transportation and distribution due to inadequate
postharvest handling technology. All the apple production areas located in higher hills, from where usually the
fruits are harvested and transported to collection centers on conical bamboo baskets by the porters and thereafter
to distance market in different CFB boxes and gunny sacks. Fruits bruise easily due to scratch, compression,
impact and vibration forces during transportation also lead to damages. The damages may not be apparent and
visible to naked eyes immediately after transport; however become visible after storage. Moreover scratches and
wounds created during transport are the avenue for the entry of microorganism for the development of disease
and rotting. Thus, damaged fruits have short storage life as compared to undamaged healthy fruits.
In Nepal, present packaging system for apple fruit is unsuitable and unscientific. Use of traditional forms of
packages like bamboo baskets; reused Beer cartons, noodle cartons, Chinese apple cartons and gunny sacks are
still prevalent which are not convenient containers for packaging, handling, transporting and marketing of fresh
apple for distant market. Rough surface and sharp edge of bamboo baskets cause bruising and scaring;
inconvenience in handling and stacking during transportation.
Among different packaging containers, Corrugated Fiber Board (CFB) boxes are capable of withstanding various
shipping and transportation hazards (impact, compression and vibration damages, moisture, etc.), attractive, light
weight; provide cushioning and good stacking strength and excellent cushioning for product protection, offers
better retention of shelf life, quality of product and better printability which helps in efficient marketing
(Salunkhe et al., 1995). One of the important functions of CFB boxes is to provide crush resistance/product
protection and adequate strength for stacking in warehouses. The use of CFB boxes is being made to limited
extent in Nepal. Some traders and cooperatives have initialed to use CFB boxes for packaging and transportation
of apple to long distance market; however packaging containers and packaging methods have not been
standardized yet.
Apple growers, cooperatives and traders still use 3 ply Beer cartons and 7 ply CFB boxes of 20 kg capacity
recommended by Fruit Development Directorate (FDD) to pack and transport apples. At present, nearest cold
storage is located in
Kohalpur, Banke, Nepal
which is far from the production site. Fruits are usually stored in
cold storage by traders and released periodically for marketing. Brushing damage of apple fruits is a serious
problem for growers. To overcome this problem, study has been undertaken to identify appropriate packaging
materials for transportation of Golden Delicious apple fruits from the production center to distant market in a
prime form and fresh condition so that bruising process can be managed or controlled more effectively.
2 Materials and Methods
Studies were carried out for two consecutive years (2013-2014) to identify appropriate packaging material for
transportation of Golden Delicious apple fruits from HRS,
Rajikot
,
Jumla
,
Nepal
to
Kohalpur
,
Banke
,
Nepal
.
Fruits were harvested at commercial maturity stage from HRS,
Rajikot, Jumla
(2390 m a.s.l., 29
0
17’N, 82
0
13’E)
and transported to
Kohalpur
,
Banke
,
Nepal
in different types of CFB boxes. To compare with conventional and
other methods, two existing practices were also included as treatments; these were 7 ply CFB box of 20 kg
capacity recommended by FDD and 3 ply Beer carton as local practice. Six different types of 10 kg capacity CFB
