The Effects of Drop Height and Padding Surface on Bruising of Exportable Apple

Abstract

Unfortunately despite the great ranking of Iran for apple production around the world, the export potential is not suitable. It seems that one of the major causes of poor quality for Iranian apple varieties is bruising damage of this product. Therefore, in this study, some factors affecting the apple bruising were addressed. For this purpose, factorial experiment in a completely randomized design with 72 treatments, including variety factor in three levels (Golden Delicious, Red Delicious and Granny Smith), type of padding surface in four levels (Cardboard on plastic, wood, Rubber on steel and apple) and the drop height in six levels (5, 15, 25, 35, 45 and 55 cm) with four replications were considered. Moreover, the maximum allowable drop heights of apples along with bruising volume estimation models were studied. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that bruising area and volume were significantly affected by all experimental parameters at the 1% level. The comparison test revealed that Granny Smith has tougher tissues and is less prone to vulnerability. Based on the results of this study, the maximum allowable drop heights for the Red Delicious, Golden Delicious and Granny Smith varieties were found to be 12, 15 and 20 cm, respectively. In addition, the effect of apple variety on the dependent parameters was significant. Based on the findings of this study, the bruising due to the impact of apple and apple was lower for the moving apples compared with the stationary apples.

Keywords

• Apple
• Bruising
• Height of drop
• Padding surface