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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Parlier, California » San Joaquin Valley Agricultural Sciences Center » Commodity Protection and Quality Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #338552
Research Project: Integrate Pre- and Postharvest Approaches to Enhance Fresh Fruit Quality and Control Postharvest Diseases

Location: Commodity Protection and Quality Research

Title: Influence of packaging on the quality of cold-stored grapes packed into boxes for later repacking

Author
item Obenland, David - Dave
item Xiao, Chang-Lin
item SMILANICK, JOSEPH - Former ARS Employee

Submitted to: Symposium Proceedings
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/23/2017
Publication Date: 2/23/2017
Citation: Obenland, D.M., Xiao, C., Smilanick, J. 2017. Influence of packaging on the quality of cold-stored grapes packed into boxes for later repacking. Symposium Proceedings. p. 1-16.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: A two-year study was conducted to examine various commercial practices associated with the cold storage of table grapes that are to be later re-packed for final shipment to provide information on the impact on fruit quality. Variables examined included the use of box types with vent areas ranging from 3.9% to 27.7%, box liners with different vent areas (0.3, 1 or 3%) and perforation sizes (micro- or macro-perforation), and whether weekly sulfur dioxide (SO2) fumigation was applied. Key conclusions of the work were: 1) Pre-cooling occurred faster in boxes with higher vent area; 2) Pre-cooling was markedly slower within packages with 0.3% liners (16.9 to 18.0 hours) compared to 1% or 3% vent area liners (7.8 to 11.2 hours). However, slower cooling had no negative impact on grape quality; 3) SO2 diffusion into totes during pre-cooling and weekly maintenance fumigation was adequate and not impacted by liner type; 4) Grape firmness and rachis quality was generally better in micro versus macro liners with the exception of the 0.3 macro liner that also maintained better quality; 5) Use of weekly maintenance fumigations, even in the presence of SO2-emitting pads, acted to further reduce decay.