Bruise Development Research Articles

Response of tomato fruit to consecutive impact loading

Tomato fruits receive successive impacts during harvest and postharvest operations. This paper is a study of the response of tomato fruit to mono and multiple dynamic loadings and the ability to withstand consecutive impacts, which play the most critical role in downgrading and postharvest loss of fresh tomato fruits and designing harvest, and postharvest handling and processing equipment. The fruits were subjected to consecutive impacts by an instrumented pendulum one to three times successive impacts at the same location with the three different impact energy levels: 125, 250, and 500 mJ to establish a comprehensive model and refining by adding various groups of contributing factors to understand better and find out which parameters are more likely to cause and contribute in tomato mechanical damage. Twenty sub-models were evaluated using AIC and R2 values. The parameters of the preferred logistic model consist of response variables (peak contact force, contact time, and Elast), loading conditions (one, two, and three-times impact at the same location), and fruit quality parameter (total soluble solids). Also, another model was suggested for rapid assessment of bruise development.

Pulsed Photothermal Radiometric Depth Profiling of Bruises by 532 nm and 1064 nm Lasers.

Optical techniques are often inadequate in estimating bruise age since they are not sensitive to the depth of chromophores at the location of the bruise. To address this shortcoming, we used pulsed photothermal radiometry (PPTR) for depth profiling of bruises with two wavelengths, 532 nm (KTP laser) and 1064 nm (Nd:YAG laser). Six volunteers with eight bruises of exactly known and documented times of injury were enrolled in the study. A homogeneous part of the bruise was irradiated first with a 5 ms pulse at 532 nm and then with a 5 ms pulse at 1064 nm. The resulting transient surface temperature change was collected with a fast IR camera. The initial temperature-depth profiles were reconstructed by solving the ill-posed inverse problem using a custom reconstruction algorithm. The PPTR signals and reconstructed initial temperature profiles showed that the 532 nm wavelength probed the shallow skin layers revealing moderate changes during bruise development, while the 1064 nm wavelength provided additional information for severe bruises, in which swelling was present. Our two-wavelength approach has the potential for an improved estimation of the bruise age, especially if combined with modeling of bruise dynamics.

Impact characteristics of pears

The effect of impact on two pear cultivars have been studied in terms of maximum force, impact time, maximum deformation, permanent deformation, restitution coefficient and maximum stress. The above mentioned characteristics were related to bruise sizes and the bruise initiation was determined for a given weight and firmness. Bruise initiation was described by the restitution coefficient. The stabilization of mean values of maximum stress at different drop heights confirmed that the pear damage occurred after specified stress values were exceeded. The rate of bruise development was dependent on the fruit firmness. Firmer pears were more resistant to impact and the bruise initiation occurred at a higher impact velocity.

Structured Illumination Reflectance Imaging for Enhanced Detection of Subsurface Tissue Bruising in Apples

Abstract. In this research, a structured illumination reflectance imaging (SIRI) system was used as a novel method for detection of fresh bruises on apples. The SIRI system projects sinusoidal patterns of illumination onto samples, and image demodulation is then used to recover depth-specific information through varying the spatial frequency of the illumination pattern. The capability of SIRI was demonstrated through the detection of artificially induced bruises on ‘Golden Delicious’ and ‘Delicious’ apples with varying levels of bruising. It was hypothesized that by confining the light penetration depth near the surface of each fruit, subsurface defects such as bruising should be more apparent under SIRI than conventional planar illumination imaging. Three 120° phase-shifted reflectance images were acquired from 60 fruit each of ‘Golden Delicious’ and ‘Delicious’ varieties at 0 h, 4 to 6 h, and 24 h after impact bruising for each of the four spatial frequencies (i.e., 0, 0.10, 0.15, and 0.25 cycles mm-1). The reflectance images acquired by the system were then demodulated into an alternating component (AC) and direct component (DC), where the AC contained depth-specific information and the DC image represented the diffuse reflectance from the apple sample under uniform (or planar) illumination. Bruise detection algorithms were developed and applied to the demodulated AC and DC images. The SIRI system achieved 70% to 100% bruise detection rates, compared to 0% to 50% detection rates under conventional planar illumination. However, detection results were influenced by both severity of bruising and bruise development after impact; better bruise detection results were obtained when bruises had developed for 4 to 6 h after impact. SIRI has demonstrated a superior capability of detecting fresh bruises, and it is promising as a new imaging modality for quality detection of agricultural products. Keywords: Apples, Bruises, Defects, Fruit, Imaging, Nondestructive, Quality, Sorting, Structured illumination.

Bruising in slaughter cattle and its relationship with creatine kinase levels and beef quality as affected by animal related factors.

The objective of the study was to determine the effects of animal related factors on bruising in slaughter cattle, creatine kinase (CK) and beef quality. Three hundred and twenty one cattle from three breeds (108 Bonsmara, 130 Beefmaster and 83 Brahman) were used in this study. The animals were grouped as follows: Group 1 (16 months old), Group 2 (18 months old) and Group 3 (24 months old). At exsanguinations, blood samples for CK determination were collected using disposable vacutainer tubes. Muscularis longissimus thoracis et lumborum (LTL) was collected 24 h after slaughter to determine the colour (L*, a*, and b*) and ultimate pH (pHu) of beef. Breed, sex and age had significant effects (p<0.05) on bruising score, CK levels and beef quality. Bonsmara breed had the highest (80%) bruising score percentage, CK (705.3±80.57 U/L) and pHu (6.3±0.05) values while the Bonsmara had the highest L* (24.8±0.78) a* (17.5±0.53) and b* (12.8±0.53) values. Higher CK levels were also observed in winter compared to summer, spring and autumn respectively. Therefore, animal factors (sex, breed and animal age at slaughter) contribute to the development of bruises and have an effect on the levels of CK and meat quality. It was also concluded that there is no significant relationship between meat parameters (L,* a*, and b*) and CK levels.

Impact collisions during handling and their effect on internal bruising and surface splitting of ‘Tempest’ tomatoes (Lycopersicon esculentum)

An instrumented sphere was passed with tomatoes (Lycopersicon esculentum) through sorting, grading, and packing operations in 15 commercial facilities in Queensland, north‐east Australia. The sphere is a tomato‐sized, electronic device that contains an accelerometer for measuring the size of impacts in gravitational force, “g”. It proved to be well suited to studies of tomato handling lines where impacts were found to mainly occur at transition zones between different mechanical components. Nearly 50% of large impacts greater than 160g occurred as the instrumented sphere moved onto ramps. The most direct route for first class fruit between bin‐tip and carton entailed passage through an average of 25 sites that generated impacts averaging 91g, but the majority of these were unlikely to cause serious injury to the variety ‘Tempest’. Laboratory tests using a pendulum impact‐rig correlated incidence of injury to drop‐heights and impact acceleration, and ‘Tempest’ was found to tolerate impacts that would generally be considered extreme for fresh produce in most handling situations. For mature‐green fruit, severity of internal bruising generally increased with increasing drop‐height, and drops above 60 cm onto steel caused injury that was considered commercially important. Coloured fruit (with more than 75% of the surface showing pink‐to‐red) were less prone to internal bruising and surface splitting than mature‐green fruit. Fruit size had no effect on severity of internal bruise development but larger fruit were more likely to split than smaller fruit following large drops onto a steel surface. Based on these results it seems that packing‐line managers could operate equipment more quickly when handling coloured fruit compared with mature‐green.

Factors that affect tomato bruise development as a result of mechanical impact

External and internal factors that affect tomato bruise susceptibility such as impact- and fruit-related properties were investigated. Logistic regression was used to establish a relationship between tomato loading conditions and the resulting damage. Impact-specific models were built for a more precise determination of the bruise risk related to a narrow range of impact energies, being low (23 mJ), medium (71 mJ), high (158 mJ) and very high (216 mJ) impacts. Pericarp tissue over the locules was much more sensitive to bruise development than radial wall tissue. Tomatoes at room temperature (20 °C) were more sensitive than fruit stored at 12 °C. Tomato susceptibility to bruising increased substantially with ripening and loading conditions. The duration of the impact played a critical role in the bruise development and it is largely determined by fruit intrinsic parameters. Additional effects of the restitution coefficient and the fruit mass were found. Finally, different factors are responsible for tomato bruising in the various impact classes. The effect of low and medium energy impacts is largely controlled by the fruit texture. Especially medium impacts seem to substantially increase the bruise potential. The bruise potential of high and very high impacts mainly depends on fruit ripeness and the location of impact.

Determination of bruise susceptibility of tomato fruit by means of an instrumented pendulum

Tomato fruit quality is substantially reduced by bruise damage. The occurrence of bruising depends on the direct mechanical damaging of the tomato and the subsequent action of cell wall-related proteins. Although much research has been directed towards possible causes of mechanical injury during tomato harvest and grading, there is a clear knowledge gap concerning the internal fruit characteristics that contribute to bruise development. A simple method to determine the bruise susceptibility of tomatoes is a first requirement to close that gap. An instrumented pendulum is presented as an appropriate instrument to conduct controlled impact experiments on tomato fruit. An evaluation method of the subsequent damage is proposed. Logistic regression models are discussed as the best statistical tools for bruise development evaluation. An experiment to determine the bruise susceptibility of three different tomato cultivars illustrates the proposed method. For that experiment, red ripe tomatoes were subjected to dynamic loading by means of a pendulum at different levels of impact energy: low (0.024 J), medium (0.073 J) and high energy (0.171 J). Impacts were applied to tomatoes of the red ripe stage. All fruit were at room temperature (20 °C). Each tomato was impacted at two locations, being at the locular tissue and at the cross-wall tissue. Different logistic regression models were proposed and evaluated to best describe the bruise susceptibility of the cultivars. The tomatoes’ susceptibility to bruise damage appeared to be dependent on the location of impact and cultivar, and was most simply expressed as a function of the applied impact energy. A logistic regression function based on accurate impact data, fruit parameters, and a sensory-based score for the resulting bruise damage, proved to be appropriate to describe the tomato bruise susceptibility.

Determination of Bruise Development Rate on Salak Fruit Using Image Processing

Major damage on salak fruits in Indonesia is bruise caused by poor postharvest handling system. The bruise which can turn the color of salak into brown and decrease its firmness, spreads out quickly. It makes salak loose its firmness and produces bad odor as well as decreasing the consumable part. Moreover, the bruise is not visible without peeling off the fruit skin because of its dark color. Image processing has been applied to monitor the development of bruise for salak stored in various temperatures. The results indicated that the rate of bruise development in salak was 0.196/day at room temperature and 0.040/day at 10°c. Salak can maintain its acceptance quality, with the bruised area is less than 10% of total fruit surface, in 2 days at room temperature and 4 days at 10°C.

LITERATURE ABSTRACTS

LITERATURE ABSTRACTS

Bruise development and fruit response of pear (cv. ‘Blanquilla’) under impact conditions

Pear fruits cv. ‘Blanquilla’, at various ripening stages, were studied under impact conditions. A 50·6-g spherical steel indentator, with a radius of curvature of 0·94 cm, was dropped on to the fruit from three heights: 4, 6 and 10 cm (0·0199, 0·0299 and 0·0499 J). The variables measured were analyzed. All variables were observed to be related to the impact energy-except impact duration, which was related to the fruit firmness. Bruising correlated with impact energy when considering different heights, but not with any specific variable when studying the impact phenomenon at individual heights; however, there was a clear correlation between impact bruising and firmness. Three bruise shapes were observed, corresponding to preclimacteric, climacteric and postclimacteric fruits; a theory for this response is offered. According to the results, the impact response in post-climacteric pear fruits (with firmness values of less than 25 N, and a maturity index above 55) may be explained by the role played by the skin rather than by the pulp.

Blackspot bruise dependent changes in enzyme activity and gene expression in Lemhi russet potato

Blackspot bruise-induced changes in enzyme activity and gene expression were examined in the bruise susceptible cultivar Lemhi. The activities of several enzymes involved with the synthesis and metabolism of phenolic intermediates were examined over the time course of blackspot bruise development in tubers. A large, transient increase (200-fold) in phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL) activity was observed, while other enzymes examined (chorismate mutase, tyrosine ammonia-lyase, 3-deoxy-D-arabino-heptulosonate 7-phosphate synthase, and polyphenol oxidase) showed either modest or no activation. Maximal PAL activity was observed 48 hours after bruise induction, well after the discoloration reactions were complete. The change in PAL activity was associated with a transient increase in messenger RNA coding for PAL. In addition, messenger RNAs encoding two stress-induced genes, ubiquitin and the 70 kD heat shock protein, were transiendy induced by bruising. Physical impact also induced a marked decrease, followed by recovery, in the messenger RNA level for patatin, a primary storage protein in the tuber. These results suggest that the stress resulting in blackspot bruising elicits a wound response similar to those observed in other injuries to plant tissues.

SIMULATED PACKING LINE IMPACTS FOR APPLE BRUISE PREDICTION

ABSTRACT Impact pulses recorded by an Instrumented Sphere (IS) as it moved with apples through 12 commercial apple packing lines were analyzed to determine peak g and velocity change. Peak g ranged from 20 to 130 g (1 g = 9.81 m/s2) and velocity change (area under the impact curve) from 0.1 to 3.0 m/s. These impacts were simulated in the laboratory using different surfaces that were calibrated using the IS. Taula Red' and *Golden Delicious' apples were dropped onto these surfaces and the resulting bruises were measured. The lowest impact threshold for bruise development (brown tissue under the skin) was 40 g for Taula Red' apples and 30 g for *Golden Delicious' apples. This occurred 1 day after harvest for Taula Red' and 3 days after harvest for *Golden Delicious' apples. Multiple linear regression models were formulated for average bruise diameter for each variety of apple. The equations explained 85% of the variation in bruise diameter for Taula Red' and 57% for *Golden Delicious' apples.

Effects of Temperature on Firmness and Bruising of ‘Starkrimson Delicious’ and ‘Golden Delicious’ Apples

Abstract Firmness of ‘Starkrimson Delicious’ and ‘Golden Delicious’ apples was not significantly different when tested at 0° and 20°C after 26 weeks of storage at 0°. The volume of bruises produced in these cultivars by mechanical impact injury increased with increasing temperature (0°, 10°, 20°, and 30°) when injured, and with increasing holding temperature (0°, 10°, 20°, and 30°) during bruise development.

Effets of soil potash treatment and storage temperature on blackspot bruise development in tubers of fourSolanum tuberosum cultivars

Plots of Russet Burbank, Nampa, Targhee, and A6371-2 received O, 250, and 500 lb of potash (K2O/A as KC1 or K2SO4). Tubers were bruised following harvest. Potash treatment had no significant effect in reducing blackspot development when there was no yield response to K fertilization. On soil that tested low for K, potash treatment significantly reduced blackspot development for all four cultivars. Tuber subsamples were bruised after 6 mo in storage at either 1.7 or 10 C. Differences in blackspot bruise development between low and high K were maintained for those tubers stored at 10 C; differences were not maintained and little discoloration developed in tubers stored at 1.7 C, due perhaps to less enzyme activity and less substrate. The Nampa cultivar was significantly more resistant to blackspot than the other three cultivars.

Rates of internal blackspot bruise development in potato tubers under conditions of elevated temperatures and gas pressures

Internal blackspot bruising was produced in Russet Burbank tubers by dropping a 150 g weight 40 cm through a slotted guide tube and incubating the tubers for varying time periods at temperatures ranging from 10 to 80 C. When potatoes were bruised following 1 to 5 months storage, those tubers incubated at 10 C required 48 hr for maximum blackspot development. Increasing the incubation temperature accelerated blackspot formation with an optimum response at 36 to 40 C. At 40 C tubers reached maximum discoloration within 6 hr. Bruised tubers were also exposed to combinations of varied temperatures and varied gas pressures of 0.3 to 2.1 kg/cm2 using air, O2, CO2, and N2. Pressurized air slightly enhanced the temperature effect at 40 C; pressurized O2 had no significant effect upon blackspot development, while CO2 and N2 inhibited blackspot formation. Blackspot bruises incurred in the field during harvest required a longer incubation period at a lower temperature than did bruises inflicted on tubers held in storage for 1 to 5 months.

Rapid bruise development in potatoes with oxygen under pressure

Of a variety of methods tested in connection with the rapid assessment of bruise susceptibility of potatoes, oxygen under pressure (1. 4 kg/cm2) proved to be particularly effective on the grounds of time saved and authenticity of results. Time required for maximum pigmentation was regularly of the order of 2 h with oxygen compared with 8–12 h with compressed air at the same pressure and a minimum period of 3 days for the controls. From preliminary analysis carried out on the concentrations in potatoes of tyrosine, chlorogenic acid and ascorbic acid, no obvious relationship with susceptibility to bruising could be recognised.

Quality of Fresh Market Peaches Subjected to a Mechanical Harvesting and Field Handling: Grading System1

Abstract Cuts were generally more prevalent on mechanically harvested peaches than on those hand harvested, although they were usually within acceptable limits. Bruise development during storage was variable and often not significantly higher on machine harvested fruit than on those hand harvested. Fruit position within bulk bins appeared to influence subsequent bruise development. A prototype portable dumper-sorter did not significantly increase fruit injuries. Providing fruit were of comparable maturity, injuries to postbloom regulator-treated fruit were comparable to those untreated. The development of rots during storage was the greatest source of unmarketable fruit and is regarded as the most serious problem related to the mechanical harvesting of peaches for fresh market.