International Journal of Horticulture, 2017, Vol.7, No. 19, 154-162
154
Research Article Open Access
Evaluation of Packaging Method for Transportation of Apple in CFB Boxes
Subedi G.D.
1
, Gautam D.M.
2
, Baral D.R.
2
, G.B. K C
2
, Paudyal K.P.
1
1 Nepal Agricultural Research Council, HRD, Khumaltar, Lalitpur, Nepal
2 Tribhuvan University, IAAS, Kritipur, Kathmandu, Nepal
Corresponding email
International Journal of Horticulture, 2017, Vol. 7, No. 19 doi
Received: 31 Mar., 2017
Accepted: 05 Jun., 2017
Published: 26 Jul., 2017
Copyright
©2017 Subedi et al., This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits
unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Preferred citation for this article
:
Subedi G.D., Gautam D.M., Baral D.R., K C G.B., and Paudyal K.P., 2017, Evaluation of packaging method for transportation of apple in CFB boxes,
International Journal of Horticulture, 7(19): 154-162 (doi
Abstract
Apple
fruits experience a variety of conditions in the supply chain which causes mechanical damages, scaring, and
bruising and ultimately reduce the quality and shelf life of the product. Studies were carried out for two consecutive years (2013 and
2014) to identify the appropriate packaging method for minimization of transportation loss. Different Packaging methods were
evaluated for assessing damage that occurs during transport. Red Delicious apple fruits harvested on 3rd week of September from
HRS,
Jumla, Nepal
were transported to
Kohalpur, Banke, Nepal
(215 km mountainous gravel road, 48 hours) in 5 Ply 160 PSI
bursting strength CFB boxes with the following treatments; fruits with full stalk and with trimmed stalk, separated inside CFB boxes
with deck plate and all together, individual fruits wrapped with styrofoam and no wrapping, and with 8 ventilation hole in CFB box
and without ventilation hole. The CFB boxes were sealed and loaded randomly; stacked in 4 layers inside the truck after spreading
of HDPE tarpaulin at the base and shipped to
Kohalpur, Banke, Nepal
. To find out the effect of packaging method as it may not be
apparent immediately the fruits were stored at 5±1
℃
and 95% RH for one month. After storage, observations were made on
physiological loss in weight (PLW), total damage, acceptable and unacceptable damage, fruit quality and economic analysis. The
result revealed that all the treatments imposed reduced PLW; percent damaged fruits and maintained better quality. Among different
treatment combinations, wrapping of stalk trimmed individual fruits in ventilated CFB box separated in layers with deck plate was
found the best method. Damaged fruits were reduced to 3.8% as compared to 18.2% in ordinary packaging.
Keywords
Benefit cost ratio; Hedonic rating; PLW; Starch index; Fruit damage; Shelf life; Bruising
1 Introduction
Apple (
Malus domestica
Borkh.) is an economically important deciduous fruit crop of the temperate region. It
can be grown in 54 districts of Nepal, in rain shadow or low rainfall mountainous areas, of which 12 districts
grow apple commercially.
Jumla
district ranks number one in terms of area and production (Subedi et al., 2012)
where Red Delicious is the widely adapted commercial cultivar. The district lies in the remote mountain area and
just recently it is connected with transportation network. Farmers have not been receiving anticipated level of
income because of traditional system of postharvest handling (Subedi et al., 2016). Large amount of fruit losses
occurs after harvest and minimizing this loss could save over 25% of the produce (Gurung, 1998). About 58.2%
of damage occurs during harvesting, handling, transportation and distribution due to inappropriate practices
(Gautam et al., 2002). Corrugated fiber board (CFB) boxes are commonly used packaging material for
transported fruit in many developed countries. CFB boxes are capable of withstanding various shipping and
transportation hazards, attractive, light in weight; provide good stacking strength, excellent cushioning for
product protection, and offers better retention of shelf life; quality fruits and better printability which helps in
efficient marketing (D.K. Salunkhe et al., 1995). The size, thickness and stacking strength of CFB box is very
important to protect fruit from physical damage during transportation (Gautam et al., 2004). They have suggested
10 kg capacity 5 ply 160 PSI boxes most effective to transport apple from
Mustang to Chitwan, Nepal
.
At present condition in
Jumla
, fruits are packed with whole stalk in sacks, bamboo basket and beer cartons for
transportation. Nearest cold storage and market outlet is located in
Kohalpur
,
Banke
,
Nepal
which is far (220 km)
from the production site. Fruits are usually stored in cold store by traders and released periodically for marketing.
This study focused on packaging method for transportation of fruits from collection centre to nearest market. All
