Minimizing Transportation Losses in Fresh Fig (Ficus Carica L.) Fruits

Abstract

The study was undertaken to measure the damage to packaged fig (Ficus Caria L.) during transportation and consequent storage. The data presented in this study will assist farmers and packaging material designers in selection of packaging materials to reduce damage in transit. Fresh harvested fig fruits at commercial maturity free from bruises and injury were packed in CFB boxes of 10 kg capacity with internal packaging materials viz. newspaper lining, polyethylene foam, polyurethane foam. The packaged fruits were transported for transportation distance of 500 km. After transportation fruits were observed for physiological loss in weight, total soluble solids, firmness and decay loss at room temperature. The results showed that the per cent of damaged fruits differed significantly with different packaging materials. As expected, based on previous work, fruit damage was found to be more in the CFB box with paper lining. Fruits packed in polyurethane foam were more firm with reduced increase in TSS. The results showed that a minimum amount of damage occurred in CFB box with polyurethane compared to all other packaging materials. Decay loss of the fruits was also low in CFB box with polyurethane foam followed by polyethylene foam after five day of storage.

U ovoj studiji su utvrđeni gubici koji nastaju prilikom pakovanja, transporta i skladištenja svežih smokvi (Ficus Caria L.) Rezultati studije će pomoći farmerima i dizajnerima materijala za pakovanje prilikom odabira odgovarajućeg načina pakovanja kako bi umanjili gubitke u transport. Sveže urbani plodovi smokve se neoštećeni pakuju u CFB kutije, u pakovanjima po 10 kg, pri čemu se unutar pakkovanja odvajajau listovima papira, polietilenskom ili poliuretanskom penom. Pakovano voće se potom transportuje u proseku 500 km do odredišta. Na odredištu se plodovi smokve ispituju, pri čemu se obraća pažnja na gubitak u težini, rastvorljivosti suve materije, čvrstoći i kaliranju proizvoda na sobnoj temperaturi. Rezultati ukazuju na to da količina oštećenih plodova bitno zavisi od vrste materijala pakovanja. Oštećenje plodova pakovanih u CFB kutije i razdvajanaih papirom je najveće. Plodovi pakovani u poliuretanskoj peni su u čvršći sa sporijim povećanjam TSS vrednosti. Rezultati pokazuju da su minimalno oštećeni proizvodi pakovani u CFB kutije sa poliuretanom u poređenju sa ostalim načinima pakovanja. Takođe, najmanje su kalirali proizvodi upakovani u CFB kutije sa poliuretanom.