Packing of harvested fruits and vegetables

Packaging methods of post
harvest fruits and
vegetables
Postharvest Biology and
Technology.
Name-K.G.R.Madubashini
B.I.S.Agriculture
O.U.S.L

Content
 Introduction.
 Packaging Requirements.
 Main Functions of Packaging.
 Several types of Packaging fresh products.
 Natural materials
 Wood
• Pallets
• Pallet Bins
• Wire-Bound Crates
2

Content
• Wooden Baskets and Hampers.
• Corrugated Fiberboard.
 Pulp Containers.
 Paper and Mesh Bags.
 Plastic Bags.
 Shrink Wrap.
 Rigid Plastic Packages.
 Plastic field boxes.
 The cost-effectiveness of packaging.
 Summary.
 References. 3

Introduction
 Packaging fresh fruits and vegetables is one of
the more important steps in the long and
complicated journey from grower to consumer.
Bags, crates, hampers, baskets, cartons, bulk
bins, and palletized containers are convenient
containers for handling, transporting, and
marketing fresh produce.
Sourse-paleoaholic.com
4

Packaging Requirements
5
 Products cannot delay or prevent fresh fruits and
vegetables from spoilage Incorrect packaging
can accelerate spoilage.
 Packaging can serve to protect against
contamination, damage and most importantly
against excess moisture loss.
 Protect fruits and vegetables from pathogens.
 Size, shape, weight limitations.

Packaging Requirements
 They must be non-toxic and compatible with the
specific foods.
 Sanitary protection.
 Gas and odor protection.
 Light protection.
 Resistance to impact.
 Transparency.
 Tamperproofness.
 Appearance, printability.
 Low cost. 6

Main Functions of Packaging
 To assemble the produce into convenient units
for handling.
 To protect the produce during , storage and
marketing (protection).
Source -www.rondo-ganahl.com
7

several types of Packaging
fresh products
 Natural materials
 Wood
• Pallets
• Pallet Bins
• Wire-Bound Crates
• Wooden Crates and Lugs
• Wooden Baskets and Hampers
• Corrugated Fiberboard
8

 Pulp Containers.
 Paper and Mesh Bags
 Plastic Bags
 Shrink Wrap
 Rigid Plastic Packages
 Plastic field boxes
9

Natural materials
 Natural materials. Baskets and other traditional
containers are made from bamboo, rattan, straw,
palm leaves, etc.
Disadvantages are:
• They are difficult to clean when contaminated
with decay organisms.
• They lack rigidity and bend out of shape when
stacked for long-distance transport.
• They load badly because of their shape.
10

• They cause pressure damage when tightly filled.
• They often have sharp edges or splinters
causing cut and puncture damage.
Sourse-www.netpak.net
11

Wood pallets
 Wood pallets- the pallets are built as
inexpensively as possible and discarded after a
single use.
 The use of a single pallet size could substantially
reduce pallet inventory and warehousing costs
along with pallet repair and disposal costs.
Sourse-www.heritagepallets.com
12

Wood Pallet Bins
 Pallet Bins- are primarily used to move
produce from the field or orchard to the packing
house.
 Pallet bin can add up to big problems when
several hundred are stacked together for
cooling, ventilation, or storage. It is also
important that stress points be adequately
reinforced.
Sourse-www.ecodaddyo.com
13

Wooden wire-Bound Crates
 Wire-Bound Crates - wooden wire-bound
crates are used for commodities that require
hydro cooling.
 Wire-bound crates are sturdy, rigid and have
very high stacking strength ,these are not
generally acceptable for consumer packaging
because of the difficulty in affixing suitable
labels.
Sourse-www.glacierv.com
14

Wooden Crates and Lugs
 Wooden crates- once extensively used for
apples, stone fruit, and potatoes have been
almost totally replaced by other types of
containers.
 Advances in material handling have reduced
their use to a few specialty items, such as
expensive tropical fruit.
15

Wooden Baskets and
Hampers
 Wooden Baskets and Hampers -used for a
wide variety of crops .They are durable and
nested for efficient transport when empty.
 However, cost, disposal problems, and difficulty
in efficient palletization have severely limited
their use to mostly local grower markets where
they may be re-used many times.
16

Corrugated Fiberboard
 Corrugated fiberboard- is manufactured in
many different styles and weights. Because of its
relativity low cost and versatility, it is the
dominant produce container material and will
probably remain so in the near future.
 Both cold temperatures and high humidity
reduce the strength of fiberboard containers.
Unless the container is specially treated,
moisture absorbed from the surrounding air and
the contents can reduce the strength of the
container. 17

 Cabbage, melons, potatoes, pumpkins, and
citrus have all been shipped successfully in
these containers. The container cost per
produce is as little as one fourth of traditional
size containers. Some bulk containers may be
collapsed and re-used.
Sourse-www.tradebit.com
18

Pulp Containers
 Pulp Containers - made from recycled paper
pulp and a starch binder are mainly used for
small consumer packages of fresh produce. Pulp
containers are available in a large variety of
shapes and sizes and are relatively inexpensive
in standard sizes. can absorb surface moisture
from the product, are also biodegradable, made
from recycled materials, and recyclable.
Sourse-www.tripla.com
19

Paper and Mesh Bags
 Paper and Mesh Bags. Consumer packs of
potatoes and onions are about the only produce
items now packed in mesh bags.
 In addition to its low cost, mesh has the
advantage of uninhibited air flow. Good
ventilation is particularly beneficial to onions.
Supermarket produce managers like small mesh
bags because they make attractive displays that
stimulate purchases.
20

Paper and Mesh Bags
 Have several serious disadvantages. Large
bags do not palletize well and small bags do not
efficiently fill the space inside corrugated
fiberboard containers. Bags do not offer
protection from rough handling. Mesh bags
provide little protection from light or
contaminants.
Sourse-Www.meshbag.htm
21

Plastic Bags
 Plastic Bags- Plastic bags (polyethylene film)
are the predominant material for fruit and
vegetable consumer packaging. Besides the
very low material costs, automated bagging
machines further reduce packing costs. Film
bags are clear, allowing for easy inspection of
the contents, and readily accept high quality
graphics.
Sourse-www.plasticstoday.com
22

Shrink Wrap
 Shrink Wrap -Shrink wrapping has been used
successfully to package potatoes, sweet
potatoes, apples, onions, sweet corn.
 Shrink wrapping with an engineered plastic wrap
can reduce shrinkage, protect the produce from
disease, reduce mechanical damage and
provide a good surface for stick-on labels.
Source- www.rheothing.com
23

Rigid Plastic Packages
 Rigid Plastic Packages. packages with a top
and bottom that are heat formed from one or two
pieces of plastic are known as clamshells.
Clamshells are most often used with consumer
packs of high value produce items like small
fruit, berries, mushrooms, etc.,
Sourse-www.letsrecycle.com
24

Plastic field boxes
 Plastic field boxes - are usually made of
polyvinyl chloride or palyetylene.they are
durables and can last many years. They are
designed in such a way that they can nest inside
each other when empty to facilitate transport,
and can nest inside each other when empty to
facilitate transport.
Sourse-www.wholesalewarehousesupply.com
25

The cost-effectiveness of
packaging
 The use of packaging represents an added cost
in marketing and the price of the marketed
product must take account of the capital outlay
and unit-packaging cost as well as expected
profit.
 To make an exact assessment of the added
value is difficult because many factors may
offset the cost of packaging.
26

The cost-effectiveness of
packaging
For example:
• Losses should be significantly reduced.
• Presentation and quality of the product may
make it more desirable, a competitive
advantage.
• Marketable life of the produce may be
extended.
Sourse-www.netpak.net
27

Summary
 Post-harvest losses are losses occurring in the
period between harvesting and consumption.
The term 'losses' in the context of this manual is
used in a wider sense, including all types of
losses for the farmer, trader and consumer (e.g.
weight loss, quality loss, financial loss, loss of
goodwill, loss of marketing opportunities, loss of
nutritional value, etc.).Good packaging helps to
reduce post harvest losses in postharvest fruits
and vegetables.
28

References
 http://atinadiffley.com/food-safety-and-post-harvest-handling/
 http://postharvest.ucdavis.edu
 http://postharvest.ucdavis.edu/libraries/publications/?ds=234&report
number=204&catcol=4175&categorysearch=Small-
scale%20Postharvest%20Technology
 Broustead, P.J. and New, J.H 1986. Packaging of fruit and
vegetables: a study of models for the manufacture of corrugated
fibreboard boxes in developing countries. London: TDRI. (for
information contact NRI, Central Avenue, Chatham Maritime, Kent,
ME4 4TB, United Kingdom).
29

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