International Journal of Horticulture, 2016, Vol.6, No.26, 1-8
1
Research Article Open Access
Evaluation of Cushioning for Transportation of Apple Cultivars from Orchard
to Collection Center
Subedi G.D.
1
, Gautam D.M.
2
, Baral D.R.
2
, K.C.G.B.
2
, Paudyal K.P.
1
, Giri R.K.
3
1 Nepal Agricultural Research Council, HRD, Khumaltar, Lalitpur, Nepal
2 Tribhuvan University, IAAS, Kritipur, Kathmandu, Nepal
3 Nepal Agricultural Research Council, HRS, Rajikot, Jumla, Nepal
Corresponding email
International Journal of Horticulture 2016, Vol.6, No.26 doi
Received: 28 Nov., 2016
Accepted: 14 Dec., 2016
Published: 29 Dec., 2016
Copyright
© 2016 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., Paudyal K. P., and Giri R.K., 2016, Evaluation of cushioning for transportation of apple cultivars from
orchard to collection center, International Journal of Horticulture, 6(26): 1-8 (doi
Abstract
After harvesting, apple fruits experience a variety of loading conditions that potentially lead to mechanical damage and
bruising, which reduce the quality and shelf life of the products. Studies were carried out at HRS, Rajikot, Jumla (for three
consecutive years (2012-2014) to evaluate the effect of different cushioning materials for packaging and transportation of fruits of
three cultivars of apple from orchard to collection centre, thereafter on storage. Fruits were harvested on 3rd week of September;
healthy fruits of almost uniform size and shape were selected for the study. About 25 kg fruits were hold in conical bamboo baskets
using different cushioning materials; transported to collection centre by porters on their back. Data on number of damaged fruits was
recorded one day after transportation. Again, undamaged healthy 20 fruits from the same experiment were selected and stored in
plastic crates under room condition for 3 months (11.8°C and 65% RH). The result revealed that during transportation maximum
number of bruised fruits was recorded in Golden delicious (20.3%) while minimum in Red delicious (13.3%). With regard to
cushioning materials, maximum number of bruised fruits (24.0%) was observed in bamboo basket without liner while minimum
(11.3%) in grass liner. After three months of storage, maximum spoilage was observed in Golden delicious (16.8%) while minimum
in Red delicious (10.1%). With regard to cushioning material, maximum spoilage (24.3%) was observed in bamboo basket without
liner followed by plastic liner (14.4%) while minimum (7.2%) in grass liner. Highest physiological weight loss in storage was
observed in Golden delicious (17.2%) and lowest in Red delicious (11.4%). Consumers overall acceptability was higher in Royal
delicious at maturity stage and higher in Red delicious after storage. Therefore, grass and woolen shawl were identified as most
effective cushioning materials during apple transportation from orchard to collection centre under Jumla condition.
Keywords
Bruising; Spoilage; PWL; TSS; Firmness; TA; Starch index; Hedonic rating; Shrivel
Introduction
Apple (
Malus domestica
Borkh.) is an economically important fruit crop of the temperate zones. It has been
cultivated for thousands of years in Europe and Asia. There are more than 7 500 cultivars of apple and it is one of
the most grown fruit in all over the world (Martinelli et al., 2008). Consumption of apple has shown better health
to prevent a variety of chronic diseases and lung cancer, asthma, diabetes and ischemic heart disease (Hansen et
al., 2009). It is due to the large content of structural cell walls and polysaccharides along with the various
phyto-chemical antioxidants (Device et al., 2010). Apple is a leading deciduous fruit grown successfully in rain
shadow or low rainfall high hill areas from east to far west of Nepal. Red delicious, Royal delicious and Golden
delicious are the leading commercial cultivars grown by the farmers. In Nepal, apple can be grown in 54 districts;
however, only 12 districts grow apple commercially of which Jumla ranks the number one in terms of area and
production (Subedi et al., 2012). Apple farming is the boon of the farmers of Jumla because of its economical,
social, and environmental advantages. Apple growers have not been receiving anticipated level of income because
of traditional system of postharvest handling. In Nepal, the productive area, production and productivity of apple
in F.Y. 2013/2014 was 5 141 ha, 35 920.7 tons and 6.9 tons/ha respectively. Nepal imports 56 447 tons of apple
annually valued at Rs 1.92 billion (ABPSD, 2014). In Nepal, 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%
