STUDIES ON USE OF DIFFERENT PACKAGING MATERIALS FOR MINIMIZING TRANSPORTATION LOSSES IN FRESH FIG (Ficus carica L.) FRUITS

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2012-06-30
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The post harvest losses of fruits and vegetables are high in tropical countries particularly in India and it is in the range of 15-40 %. Fruits and vegetables are subjected to different types of mechanical stresses during harvesting, transportation and storage resulting in impact, vibration, abrasion, compression and bruising damages. Various studies have been carried out to assess the effects of the mechanical stresses on fresh fruits. Fig is one of the most perishable climacteric fruit and it should be harvested when almost fully ripe to obtain optimum flavour. However, at this stage, it is soft and susceptible to mechanical damage during transportation, causing the losses to the tune of 30 – 40 % and limiting the post harvest life to less than 3 days under ambient and 7 to 14 days under refrigerated condition. Considering the delicate nature and short shelf life, a study with selected packaging materials was undertaken to minimize the transportation losses in fresh fig fruits. Fig fruits (Poona variety) at commercial maturity were hand harvested from the orchard. The sorted good quality fig fruits were packed in eight different packaging materials and were transported for three transportation distances. After the transportation, the fruits were observed for physiological loss in weight (PLW), total soluble solids (TSS), colour, firmness, damages and decay loss. Transportation distance affected the quality of fresh fig fruits as minimum physiological weight loss was observed in one kg CFB boxes (single/double layer of fruits) on fifth day of storage. One kg CFB boxes were found to be best suited for long distance transportation as these recorded lowest per cent bruised fruits with prolonged shelf life of 5 days. Use of polyurethane foam sheet, polyethylene foam sheet, air bubble polyethylene film and paper shavings in CFB boxes (10 kg capacity) reduced the transportation losses compared to the newspaper lining (control).
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