Cardboard Trays Research Articles

Study and Design of Corrugated Cardboard Trays With Microwaves by Experimental Analysis (EA) and Finite Element Methods (FEM)

ABSTRACTThe purpose of the work is to study by experimental analysis and finite element methods the mechanical response of a packaging, consisting of a corrugated cardboard container, used for the transport of fruit and vegetables. During the container design, three different configurations were selected which differ both in the choice of liner and in the type of wave. In particular, the type E, F and N microwaves were chosen. They are characterized by a lower amplitude than the high and medium waves commonly used in corrugated cardboard packaging, making it possible to reduce material consumption and, consequently, costs. In the initial phase of the study, experimental tests were performed to evaluate the mechanical strength of the liners. In addition, edge compression tests (ECTs) were performed to determine the stacking resistance of the structure. The break‐in resistance of the structures was analysed using a test conducted according to an internal standard, called strength packaging test (SPT). Subsequently, a parametric study was set up with the finite element method for the simulation of the mechanical behaviour of the three structures, using the homogenization technique. The comparison between the maximum total deformations, measured experimentally and calculated numerically, has highlighted the need to introduce corrective coefficients to improve the homogenization of the wave structure. In this way, it was possible to improve the matching of the results obtained on the structures simulated by the homogenization technique and those obtained on the corresponding real structures.

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Multi Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) of eco-friendly packaging for dairy products and fourth range.

In the current European regulatory environment, there is a growing emphasis on the need to develop fourth range and dairy packaging materials. which are more environmentally sustainable. In response to this need, a Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) was conducted to assess the suitability of replacing traditional polystyrene foam boxes and polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) trays with packaging made of corrugated cardboard and coated with bioplastic. Life cycle analysis shows that bioplastic coated cardboard packaging has a lower environmental impact, despite the impact of corn and sugar cane bioplastic production. In the case of dairy packaging, an improved disposal scenario or scenario has been considered, in particular in terms of recycling. In the second case, raw materials that are totally or partially recyclable were considered. For the cardboard tray, recyclability is 100%, while for PET and PP respectively 50% and 4%, due to insufficient recycling and decontamination processes. In this scenario, the impact of fossil plastics decreases substantially, although corrugated and bioplastic packaging is again the best choice. To confirm these results, a multi-criteria decision analysis (multi-criteria Decision Analysis) was conducted, which corroborated the conclusions obtained through life cycle analysis.

Extending the shelf life of raspberries in commercial settings by modified atmosphere/modified humidity packaging

Raspberries have a short shelf life of 2–5 days limited by mould growth and rapid quality deterioration. This research trialled modified atmosphere/modified humidity (MA/MH) packaging bags with a cardboard tray (12 punnets) and vapour-releasing sanitisation technologies to improve the storability of raspberries in commercial settings. The first trial studied two types of MA/MH packaging (mineral-clay impregnated and microperforated) and two sanitisers (SO2 and H2O2). Raspberries in MA/MH microperforated bags had < 2% mouldy fruit by weight after 20 days. All packed raspberries had < 2% weight loss after 20 days, and slower anthocyanin accumulation compared to unpacked fruit. A second trial with similar methodology investigated H2O2 and two MA/MH microperforated bags with different levels of perforations. It was concluded from the trials that a modified atmosphere of 14–15% O2 & 7–8% CO2 extended the pre-retail shelf life of ‘Maravilla’ raspberries to 20–21 days.

Table for One

Table for One

Improving Packaging Logistics System: A Study Case of Camembert Cheese

cheese using the packaging evaluation method and to propose suggestions to improve the efficiency of packaging logistics that would impact the efficiency of the entire supply chain. We engage all supply chain actors for evaluating the packaging features. The first packaging is not convenient as its weight and cost are quite high for cheese, the secondary packaging is deemed less efficient, whilst the tertiary packaging is not optimal in terms of traceability. Speaking of cost, environmental impacts, especially impact on other features in the supply chain, we propose solutions to replace the circular wooden box of the cheese with a cardboard box with a round shape. Then, only the cardboard trays will be used as secondary packaging all along the supply chain. These combined solutions reduce the handling work, the packaging material cost and provide more convenience for all actors.

APROVECHAMIENTO DE SUBPRODUCTOS CÍTRICOS: FERMENTACIÓN DE LA CORTEZA DE NARANJA POR ASPERGILLUS NIGER VAN TIEGHEM, 1867

Se evaluó el aprovechamiento de los subproductos cítricos mediante la fermentación de la corteza de naranja por medio de Aspergillus niger van Tieghem, 1867, el que fue obtenido por inoculación en placa Petri, a temperatura de 35°C y a un pH de 4,3. Se utilizó como substrato la corteza de naranja triturada, parcialmente deshidratada, extendida en bandejas, secada en bandejas de cartón y sin pretratamiento térmico, añadiéndole, únicamente, componentes y nutrientes minerales, y se cultivó a A. niger a diferentes temperaturas de fermentación entre 8°C y 40°C. Al culminar el proceso fermentativo de la corteza de naranja pretratada se obtuvieron porcentajes máximos de transformación de nitrógeno mineral a nitrógeno orgánico de 34,5 %, para un valor de la integral térmica entre 0°C y 320°C por día, obteniendo para un kg de materia seca, 6,6 % de proteína para 600 g de producto (pienso) con 18 % de proteína. Finalmente, se correlacionó la variación del pH del sustrato en función de la integral térmica del cultivo; el rendimiento de la transformación del nitrógeno mineral a orgánico en función de la integral térmica del cultivo y la evolución del contenido de nitrógeno orgánico del sustrato de naranja fermentado por el A. niger frente a la integral térmica. Los resultados muestran altos coeficientes de correlación. Se concluye que es posible aprovechar los subproductos cítricos mediante la fermentación de la corteza de naranja por A. niger.

Studies on the Effect of Natural Preservatives and Packing Materials on Physico-Chemical Quality of pinni.

Pinni, a native heat dried sweet produce ready by roasting cereal flours mainly, with added khoa (desiccated milk) and sugar has a shelf-life of a few days under marketplace. In this study, result of preservers viz. i.e., cardamom powder and rosemary on the storage-life of pinni stored at 30±1˚C was investigated. Two packaging techniques viz., conventional cardboard boxes and polystyrene tray were compared for physico-chemical, quality of pinni during storage for 21 days and 28 days respectively at 30±1˚C. During storing, several variations took place in physico-chemical appearances, the changes being faster in control samples packed in both packaging materials as compared to cardamom and rosemary extract added pinni samples. The average tyrosine content for fresh pinni was 9.75 μg/5ml in control, 9.35 μg/5ml in cardamom and 9.45 μg/5ml in rosemary extracted added sample which increased significantly (p&lt;0.05) to 13.87 μg/5ml, 13.59 μg/5ml and 13.23 μg/5ml respectively when packed in cardboard boxes similar results were found when pinni packed in polystyrene tray. There was slight effect of preservers on the excellence of pinni when packed in cardboard boxes, but changes were slower in pinni when packed in polystyrene tray. Pinni packaged in polystyrene tray stored at 30±1˚C, in the presence rosemary extract, was stable for 28 days and have shelf life 14 days more than control sample.

Active Cardboard Box with Smart Internal Lining Based on Encapsulated Essential Oils for Enhancing the Shelf Life of Fresh Mandarins.

Mandarins are usually sold in bulk and refrigerated in open cardboard boxes with a relatively short shelf-life (12–15 days) due to physiological and pathological disorders (rot, dehydration, internal breakdown, etc.). The influence of a controlled release of essential oils (EOs) from an active packaging (including β-cyclodextrin-EOs inclusion complex) was studied on the mandarin quality stability, comparing different sized cardboard trays and boxes, either non-active or active, at the pilot plant scale (experiment 1; commercialization simulation at room temperature after a previous simulation of short transportation/storage of 5 days at 8 °C). Then, the selected package was further validated at the industrial scale (experiment 2; cold storage at 8 °C up to 21 days). Among package types, the active large box (≈10 kg fruit per box) better maintained the mandarin quality, extending the shelf life from two weeks (non-active large box) to three weeks at room temperature. Particularly, the active large box highly controlled microbial growth (up to two log units), reduced weight losses (by 1.6-fold), reduced acidity, and increased soluble solids (highly appreciated in sensory analyses), while it minimized colour and controlled firmness changes after three weeks. Such trends were also observed during the validation experiment, extending the shelf life (based on sensory quality) from 14 to at least 21 days. In conclusion, the mandarin’s shelf life with this active cardboard box format was extended more than one week at 8 °C.

Innovative cardboard active packaging with a coating including encapsulated essential oils to extend cherry tomato shelf life

An active cardboard tray coated with a water-based emulsion including encapsulated (in β−cyclodextrins (CDs)) essential oils (EOs) was used to study the quality changes of cherry tomatoes (flow-packaged using a macroperforated film) during storage up to 24 days at 8 °C. Commercial polyethylene and non-active cardboard trays were used as control materials. Firmness of samples was well maintained for 24 days, while decay incidence was reduced from 8% to <1% at day 24. Tomato colour was also better preserved with the active cardboard tray. Sensory analyses revealed that cherry tomato shelf life was extended from 20 to 24 days at 8 °C. The tray material (polyethylene or cardboard) itself did not affect tomato quality during storage. EOs were completely released from the active cardboard tray after 16 days at 8 °C, although EOs beneficial effect on tomato was maintained until day 24. In conclusion, the studied active cardboard tray was able to highly maintain cherry tomato quality extending its shelf life from 20 to 24 days at 8 °C.

The Effect of Long-Distance Transportation on the Fitness of Irradiated False Codling Moth (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) for Use in a Sterile Insect Release Program.

The effect of cold immobilization and long-distance transport of irradiated Thaumatotibia leucotreta (Meyrick) on the flight ability of male (♂) and female (♀) moths, the longevity of male and female moths, and the realized fecundity of mating pairs CIM (chilled irradiated moths) ♀ × CIM♂, CIM♀ × NIP (nonirradiated pupae) ♂, NIP♀ × CIM♂, and NIP♀ × NIP♂ was examined to improve application of the sterile insect technique (SIT). Adult moths treated with 150 Gy of gamma radiation were immobilized with cold temperature between 4 and 6°C inside a polyurethane cooler box and transported for 12 h by road from Citrusdal, Western Cape Province, to Addo, Eastern Cape Province. Nonirradiated moths were transported as pupae inside a cardboard tray and removed by hand after which male and female pupae were separated and placed inside containers for eclosion. Male and female moths were individually placed inside petri dishes to determine longevity or paired with irradiated and nonirradiated counterparts to evaluate realized fecundity before incubation in 100% darkness at 25°C and 75% relative humidity. Flight tests were conducted indoors at 25°C by release of individual moths per hand. A significant decrease in flight ability and longevity of irradiated false codling moth was found after handling, cold immobilization, and transport, although critically, realized fecundity was not affected. Because of the impact of long-distance transport on quality of the released insects as well as the efficacy of SIT, comprehensive protocols for this critical step in the process need to be developed for a pestiferous insect with phytosanitary status such as false codling moth.

First Report of Pyrimethanil Resistance in Botrytis cinerea from Stored Apples in Pennsylvania.

Botrytis cinerea Pers.: Fr. (teleomorph Botryotinia fuckeliana [de Bary] Whetzel) causes gray mold on apple fruit. A survey of commercial packinghouses in Washington State revealed that it accounted for 28% of the decay in storage (1). Fungicide application coupled with cultural practices are the primary method of control as all commercial apple cultivars are susceptible to gray mold. In February 2013, gray mold was observed at ~5% incidence for commercially packed 'Gala' apple fruit that had been treated with Penbotec (active ingredient: pyrimethanil, Shield-Bright, Pace International) prior to controlled atmosphere storage in Pennsylvania. Eight infected apple fruit were collected, placed in 80 count boxes on cardboard trays, and stored at 4°C. One isolate was obtained from each decayed apple, placed on potato dextrose agar (PDA) petri plates, and incubated at 20°C with natural light. Eight single-spore isolates were identified as B. cinerea based on cultural characteristics. Species level identification was executed by obtaining mycelial genomic DNA, amplifying the ITS rDNA, and sequencing the ~550-bp amplicon directly (2). MegaBLAST analysis of the 2X consensus for the 8 isolates revealed 100% identity to B. cinerea ITS sequences in GenBank (KF156296.1 and JX867227.1) with E values of 0.0, thus confirming the morphological identification. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was determined using conidial suspensions obtained from ~14-day-old plates (104 spores/ml) and a range (0 to 500 μg/ml) of technical grade pyrimethanil on three replicated 96-well microtiter plates containing a defined medium for each experiment. Conidial proliferation was inhibited at 250 μg/ml for all eight isolates and the experiment was conducted four times. To further define the resistance levels between the isolates, mycelial growth analysis using a plug of actively growing mycelium from the margin of ~3-day-old plates was conducted with a defined medium three times with technical grade pyrimethanil with three plates per experiment. Five isolates grew at 250 μg/ml (highly resistant), while three did not (moderately resistant). To assess resistance in vivo, organic 'Gala' apples were rinsed with soap and water, sprayed with 70% ethanol, placed on trays, and allowed to air dry. Apples were wounded with a sterile finishing nail, inoculated with 20 μl of a conidial suspension (104 spores/ml) of either a moderately or a highly resistant isolate, and dipped in the labeled application rate of Penbotec at 500 μg/ml or sterile water for 30 s. Fruit were stored in 100 count boxes at 22°C for 5 days and decay incidence and severity were recorded. Ten fruit composed a replicate per treatment and the experiment was repeated. Water inoculated controls were symptomless and water-dipped inoculated fruit had 100% decay. Penbotec-treated fruit had 100% decay incidence and mean lesion diameters of 37.6 (±13.1 mm) for the highly, and 35.7 (±9.0 mm) for the moderately resistant isolate. This is the first report of pyrimethanil resistance in B. cinerea from decayed apples collected from a commercial packinghouse in Pennsylvania. The results indicate that pyrimethanil resistance has developed in B. cinerea, which can result in control failures on Penbotec-treated fruit during storage. Furthermore, it emphasizes the need for additional tools to manage gray mold on apple fruit and may pose issues for export concerning the spread of fungicide-resistant inoculum.

Stacked Storage System for Large Works on Paper

AbstractAbout 1400 works on paper in the collection of the Kupferstichkabinett, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin were analysed for sheet dimensions and their aspect ratios and considered for storage- and handling-related damages. A new stacked enclosure system was developed for objects measuring up to 1350 × 950 mm to upgrade flat file storage, to reduce the risk of mechanical damage and improve the ease of handling in the museum study room and for exhibition preparation. Five defined standard dimensions for oversized artworks on paper and for enclosures and frames were introduced at the museum. They reflect the most common aspect ratios of 1:1.4 followed by 1:1.3. The new enclosure system consists of an outer shallow cardboard tray that holds up to five artworks enclosed in a folder. The folders are made either of cardboard, of a corrugated backboard and a cardboard cover, or of a corrugated backboard faced with museum board to which the object can be hinged; the latter serves as a mounting board for framing when the front cardboard cover is folded back. The trays are stackable. The corrugated cardboard walls of the tray retard the transfer of external relative humidity fluctuations into the stacked storage system.

Hydrophobic properties of cardboard coated with polylactic acid and ethylene scavengers

The corrugated cardboard used in food packaging readily absorbs moisture from the environment, especially when stored under high humidity conditions. In this research, the water barrier of cardboard was modified by changing the wettability of the cardboard surface, applying hydrophobic coatings of polylactic acid (PLA), alone or in combination with other substances that absorb gases (ethylene scavengers) such as clinoptilolite (C), sepiolite (S), and sepiolite permanganate (SP). The water barrier properties tested as water vapor permeability (WVP), water absorptiveness (WA), and water drop contact angle (CA) showed that the water resistance of the resulting cardboard was improved by the coating. The best results of these properties were obtained by using a coating of PLA 2% alone. In addition, PLA 2% with C 1.5% also showed good results, but the WA results were higher. The use of PLA coating produces a greater uniformity and smoothness of the coated cardboard surface due to the best filling of the pores or spaces between cellulose fibers. Our findings and the environmentally friendly nature of PLA strengthen the advantages of using these kinds of coatings on cardboard trays for the packaging, storage, and transport of foods such as fresh fruit and vegetables.

Reducing the incidence of under-skin browning in ‘Honey Gold’ mango (Mangifera indica L.) fruit

Summary‘Honey Gold’ mango is a relatively new cultivar in Australia, with an appealing skin colour and a sweet fibre-free flesh. However, fruit can develop ‘under-skin browning’ (USB), which appears several days after packing as a distinct ‘bruise’-like discolouration under the epidermis and can affect large areas of the fruit surface. We investigated the anatomy of USB and the impact of post-harvest fruit handling conditions on the disorder. Starch accumulated around the resin canals and discoloured cells in the affected area, with no visible change to the cuticle or epidermis. Delays of 1 d at ambient temperature (27º – 35ºC) before packing, and 2 d at 18º – 20ºC (after packing), before placing fruit at 12º – 14ºC and road transportation, reduced the incidence of USB by 83% compared to placing fruit at 12º – 14ºC within 13 h of picking. The incidence of USB was 88 – 100% higher in fruit that were cooled to 12º – 14ºC within 13 h of picking, then commercially road-freighted for 4 d at 12º – 14ºC, than in fruit held under similar temperature conditions, but not road-freighted. Wrapping each fruit in bubble-wrap to minimise direct contact with other fruit, with the plastic insert, or with the cardboard tray, reduced the incidence of USB by 84% after road-freight compared to not using bubble-wrap. These results suggest that USB is a unique disorder of mango skin associated with a rapid post-harvest reduction in temperature, from high ambient temperatures to 12º – 14ºC, and with physical damage during road-freight.

Active Packaging of Cardboard to Extend the Shelf Life of Tomatoes

In order to extend the shelf life of fresh tomatoes using biodegradable materials, an active microcorrugated cardboard tray package was tested for use with fresh Cherry tomatoes (Lycopersicon esculentum var. cerasiforme). Active packaging characteristics were achieved by coating the interior surface of the cardboard tray with polylactic acid (PLA; 3% w/v) and, after filling with tomatoes, the tray was wrapped with a low-density polyethylene (LDPE) film of 70 or 20 μm thickness and hermetically heat sealed. Uncoated trays were used as control. The trays of tomatoes were stored at 20 ± 0.5 °C and 55 ± 2% relative humidity, for 30 days, and the ethylene concentration in the package atmosphere was measured periodically as an indicator of ripeness. The following fruit quality parameters were also studied: weight loss, surface colour, microbial count, firmness, soluble solids and pH. It was demonstrated that the capacity of PLA to adsorb ethylene and water vapour and the thickness of the LDPE film were decisive for controlling the ethylene concentration of the package atmosphere and for preventing condensation of water vapour on the fruit and film. The active packaging configuration and storage conditions used preserved fruit quality for a month, thus extending the useful life of the tomatoes and saving refrigeration costs.

Occasional Prayer

Occasional Prayer Joe Bonomo (bio) You pray in your distress and in your need; would that you might also pray in the fullness of your joy and in your days of abundance. Kahlil Gibran She asks for quiet. I merge the car onto the tollway, balancing a cup of McDonald’s coffee between my legs. Our little ritual. We’ll place the cups in their cardboard tray and, during the first mile or so, each say a quiet prayer, for safety, for ours and others’. Mine will be a simple request. A statement, really. (Please watch over us and see that we arrive safely from our destination to our destination; please watch over all drivers and pedestrians and see that each and every one arrive safely from their destination to their destination.) In my best cultural Catholicism, this will be followed by a mumbled Lord’s Prayer. I’ll labor to concentrate while I pray, elbowing out pesky grammarian voices. Amy always takes a little longer, gazing at passing fields. Her Jewish entreaties are longer and more involved. Complex, anyway. (“I dunno. I have more people to say hi to?” she’ll shrug later.) Before long I’m eyeing my coffee, idly thinking that I’ll check Wikipedia when we get back home and read up on those Coffee Burning Lawsuits. Real? Urban Myth? I’m impatient to drink. The routine and self-centeredness that quickly wove itself into praying when I was young is a fact of my spiritual life that I’ve often wondered about, sensing that it must mean something, suggest a larger understanding of the worthiness of a life lived in conscious struggle. When I fell away from the [End Page 15] Church in my late teens, I fell as a cliché. Burdened at an early age with hyper self-consciousness, I’d be overly aware while at mass at Saint Andrew the Apostle, gripped in the classic adolescent manner by doubts and anxieties: Am I getting it? What “it” was I didn’t know—only that the stern frowns of the nuns that I imagined turned toward me while I struggled to focus on prayer felt like a facial equivalent of a check-minus. When I was ten or eleven years old, I was convinced that my family was trying to kill me. Each night I’d lean over the bathroom sink down the hall from the bedroom I shared with my younger brother, trembling as I brushed my teeth, knowing for certain—the certainty being the splash of cold fear in my chest—that my older brothers, conniving with my parents, had poisoned the Crest with venom hidden in the basement. I’d lie in bed later, next to my younger brother, and stare at the dark ceiling in slow, crawling dread that I’d within minutes begin the agonizing writhing into death. My siblings’ jackal, wild-eyed faces hovered over me in the dark; I’d hear conspiratorial muttering in the hallway, quiet smiling. Eventually, my fears blossomed to include poisoned breakfasts, lunches, dinners, snacks, all manner of household cuisine terreur. A couple of years later, I was locked in chest-tightening blues in seventh grade, convinced that my friends hated me and wanted me to disappear. In my imagination, I was plagued by boys who yapped at each other in a foreign language, and by girls with blossoming breasts who looked right through me. I’d wander to the other side of Saint Andrews and stand mutely and pathetically by a pole and its flopping flag. I confessed this all to my mom on a long night when she found me sobbing hysterically in the shower, Fabergé Organic shampoo running down my face. Moments later, she slapped me. It’s testament to the relationship I have with my mom that I understood the desperation behind the gesture: her son was turning into a self-obsessed monster; Get out of yourself already! I had a small bruise to lie about the next day, though I don’t think that anyone noticed. Within a couple of weeks, the depression lifted. I was social again. I never confessed to my family my irrational fears that...

A Game of Chance

Mustafa's hands worked deftly, his palms flipping the wrapped package over as his fingers intertwined the string to create a series of crisscross patterns that circled around the package and culminated in a tight bow at the center. He handed the package to the customer with a trained smile and received his tip with a magician's sleight of hand. It was Thursday evening about nine o'clock, and the pastry store was lit up and crowded. Out of the corner of his eye, Mustafa could see two young women wearing headscarves, eating gelato. They were chatting and giggling, their faces animated with some secret joy. He would've liked to eavesdrop on their conversation, but the noise in the shop was too loud. An older woman with two young children was trying to place an order as her children tugged at her dress pointing to the chocolate cream puffs and strawberry tarts. But the woman was on the other side of the store ordering a tray of assorted baklava, konafa, and basboosa, the traditional Egyptian honey-soaked sweets. As Mustafa wrapped her package, he watched her negotiate with the insistent children whose desire had led to tears and the threat of screams. With a heavy breath, he saw her surrender and order a miniature ?clair for each of them. As he handed her the package of pastries, the wrapping carefully tucked around it and held only by the elaborate design of strings, he knew his tip would be smaller because of her reluctant last purchase. The two young women finished their gelato and followed the mother and children out of the store. Mustafa could hear the volume of noise decrease in the shop. There were only a few men left, most of them sent by their wives with orders to pick up sweets for the next day, Friday, the one guaranteed holiday each week. The day off seemed to relieve people from the necessary frugality of their lives, so business always picked up on Thursday. The male customers were the easiest. Usually they ordered a single tray of one kind of pastry: the round konafa of shredded wheat filled with either sweet cream or a mixture of nuts, the rectangular tray of basboosa made with semolina so the texture soaked with honey dissolved in the mouth, or the standard baklava often shaped into small bird's nests stuffed with pistachios. Mustafa took each cardboard tray of delicate sweets, and, with a quick turn and twist, he wrapped the glossy paper over and under, tightening it with a repeated pattern of strings till it held its inner prize securely. Like a master chef who flips the dough into the air and catches it effortlessly as it free-falls from the sky, Mustafa's movements were hypnotizing. The package seemed to be doing somersaults of its own free will. It was impossible to follow his exact actions, to know where he folded the paper or how he twined the string into an even pattern over it. His packages always held tight, whether the customer carried them by the knotted string in the middle or like a platter from the bottom; even if they were tilted in the carrying, the sweets would emerge whole and centered.

PROLONGING THE SHELF‐LIFE OF FRESH GREEN CHILE PEPPERS THROUGH MODIFIED ATMOSPHERE PACKAGING AND LOW TEMPERATURE STORAGE

ABSTRACTThe postharvest quality of green chile fruit was compared after storage in 3 types of packages at 2 temperatures (24C and 8C). Package types were corrugated cardboard boxes, pressed cardboard trays overwrapped with VF‐71 polyethylene, or low‐density polyethylene (LDPE) bags. Fruit packaged in boxes or overwrapped trays had 24.8% and 10.1% weight loss, respectively, after 1 week of storage at 24C. Fruit packaged in polyethylene bags lost 0.3% weight and remained green. After 1 week at 8C, the weight losses were 3.8%, 1.8% and 0% for the boxed, overwrapped and bagged treatments, respectively. Postharvest quality was maintained up to 4 weeks when fruit were packaged in LDPE bags and stored at 8C. In a second study, steady state O2 and CO2 levels were determined inside the LDPE packages as fruit weight and temperature were varied. Storage temperatures were 24C, 16C and 8C. At 8C, steady state O2 levels ranged from 12.0 kPa to 0.9 kPa, and CO2 levels ranged from 2.0 kPa to 4.6 kPa as fruit weight was increased from 120 to 480 g. At 24C and 16C, fruit packaged in 480 g units had slower ripening rates than fruit packaged in smaller units; however, fruit stored at 8C remained green the longest, regardless of fruit weight.

Polyolefin stretch films maintain the quality of sweet corn during storage and shelf-life

Abstract Sweet corn cobs can be transported for sale in distant markets after being sealed in Polyvinylchloride (PVC) film to delay quality loss through the reduction of water loss and shrivelling. However, this package does not prevent decay of the cut ends. Polyolefin films, AM and K-400T, were tested as substitutes for PVC as an overwrap for sweet corn placed on either cardboard (CB) or polystyrene (PS) trays. Increased levels of CO 2 and decreased oxygen atmospheres were generated through the use of the new films compared with PVC, which reduced decay, and maintained quality during 12 days storage at 1 °C and two days at 20 °C. CB trays were found to be preferable to PS ones.

Control of Pepper Weevil Adults, 1987

Abstract The efficacy of various insecticides and insecticide combinations for pepper weevil control was assessed by observing adult mortality in two experiments in mature bell peppers grown on a Hidalgo clay loam soil. Plots consisted of 0.004 acre (25 ft × two 40-inch beds) with one double-row bed as a buffer row. Four cardboard trays (18 × 24 inches) were anchored underneath plants to catch dying weevil adults. In the second experiment, the number of trays was increased to 6/plot. Treatments were randomized among plots and arranged in a randomized block design with 3 replicates. Dead weevils were removed with a hand vacuum from each tray and counted at 1, 2, and 5 days after treatments were applied. The first experiment was sprayed on 24 Jun with a CO2-powered backpack sprayer mounted with 3 TX-18 nozzles/bed, calibrated to deliver 77 gal/acre at 50 psi. A water-only spray was used as the untreated check. The second experiment was conducted at a nearby location in a similar manner except that 45.5 gal/acre at 70 psi was delivered by 3 TX-10 nozzles/bed. Also, 4 replicates of each treatment were used in the second experiment.