Experimental study of air cargo temperature variations and its impact on mango quality

Abstract

An air cargo supply chain for fresh mango was investigated from Thailand to France. Measurements of air temperature, air relative humidity, and fruit (peel) temperature were conducted using thermo-hygrometer data loggers in cartons. In a Unit Load Device (ULD) containing 148 cartons, twenty-seven instrumented cartons were placed at different positions to observe spatial and temporal temperature variations during 12 h cruising. At the destination, mango quality attributes were assessed at different time-points during 15-day storage at 16.1 °C and 21.6 °C. Throughout the supply chain, fruit temperatures ranged from 16.6 °C to 30.5 °C. During cruising, fruit temperatures in upper cartons remained almost constant, whereas base carton temperatures continuously decreased from 26.1 °C to 18.1 °C. Because of a short cruising period in comparison to a storage duration at the destination and proper ambient temperature condition during the experiment, carton position in the ULD had no discernible impact on fruit quality during storage. Fruit stored at 16.1 °C preserved superior fruit quality compared to 21.6 °C storage. For the same storage temperature, better quality of fruits stored in Thailand demonstrated the impact of air shipment on product degradation. The measured temperature and relative humidity evolutions were used as input parameters of a mass loss evolution model. A comparison with the measured data exhibited good agreement (RMSE < 1.8 % mass loss). Considering 10 % mass loss as a critical value, this model allows an estimation of the product shelf life based on a supply chain scenario.