Effect of Packaging Fillers Materials on the Quality of Papaya Fruit (Carica papaya I.)

Abstract

Papaya is classified as a high economic value commodities, however it is perishable, easy to lose weight due to its thin skin and soft flesh and has a short shelf-life. Generally, the papaya transportation process in Indonesia is only conducted using a simple packaging method such as using papers or baskets to avoid wound on the fruit. Therefore, packaging improvement would provide a great advantage for papaya trading. This study aimed to determine the effect on papaya quality while packaged in different packaging fillers materials during land transportation using simulation. The results showed that the highest percentage of weight loss, mechanical damage and hardness after simulation at frequency of 1.5 Hz and 3 HZ were 6.74%; 71.48%; 4.23 gr/mm and 7%; 97.16%, 4.17 gr/mm respectively in RST3 treatment (plastic basket of straw filler in 5 hours simulation), while the lowest percentage after simulation at frequency of 1.5 Hz and 3 Hz were 0.14%; 30.95%; 2.86 gr/mm and 0.17%; 26.18%; 2.56 gr/mm respectively in NPT1 treatment (newspaper filling material in 1 hour simulation). The best packaging to reduce quality degradation in papaya using transportation simulation at the frequency of 1.5 Hz and 3 Hz was the plastic basket with newspaper filler.