Characterisation of ventilated multi-scale packaging designs used for postharvest handling of pomegranate in South Africa

摘要: Ventilated corrugated packaging is the most widely used type of packaging for postharvest handling of fresh horticultural produce. The presence of vent holes facilitates fruit cooling and poorly ventilated cartons result in non-uniform cooling and a higher cooling energy demand. In this study, we investigated the geometrical design attributes of different corrugated fibreboard cartons used for handling pomegranate fruit. The carton designs can generally be classified into ‘Processingfruit’and ‘Fresh-line-fruit’cartons. The ‘104MM’cartons are the mostly used export cartons in the industry and accounts for 48.00% of the export volumes followed by the ‘118MM’carton design at 15.73%. The cartons had varied ventilations along the long (4.60% to 13.82%), short (0.71% to 5.33%) and bottom (0.74% to 4.66%) faces, with largely open tops. Internal packages, especially liners and trays are also employed in the industry. The carton designs, and the use of tray/polyliner in the pomegranate fruit packages is largely a decision of the exporter in consideration of individual market requirements.