Guide on Packing and Packaging of Farm Fresh Produce

The longer the distance between the producer who produces farm fresh produce (fresh farm produce) and the market, the greater is the cost of marketing and the requirement for proper packaging to minimize injury to farm fresh produce.

This article discusses packing and packaging materials and techniques that ensure produce integrity and quality.

Packing is the act of arranging or organizing produce. Perishable produce may be packed on the farm where it is produced, or can be moved to another location such as a co-operative or pack house for packing.

Careful handling is crucial during packing to ensure produce integrity and to maintain quality. Packing can greatly influence airflow rates around a commodity, thereby affecting its temperature and relative humidity while in transit. Produce may be either packed by hand or by using a mechanical packing system.

Packaging is a coordinated system of preparing goods for safe, secure, efficient, and effective handling, transport, distribution, storage, retailing, consumption and recovery, reuse or disposal combined with maximizing consumer value and hence profit.

Requirements of Packaging

The package must stand up to long distance transportation, multiple handling, and the climate changes of different storage places, transport methods and market conditions. In designing fruit packages one should consider both the physiological characteristics of the fruit as well as the whole distribution network.

The package must be capable of;

• Protecting the product from the transport hazards.
• Preventing the microbial and insect damage and
• Minimizing the physiological and biochemical changes and losses in weight.

The present packaging systems for fresh vegetables is unsuitable and unscientific. The uses of traditional forms of packages like bamboo baskets are still prevalent. The other types of packages generally used are wooden boxes and gunnysacks.

The use of corrugated fiberboard boxes is limited. The use of baskets besides being unhygienic also does not allow adequate aeration and convenience of easy handling and stocking.

Considering the long term needs of eco- systems and to achieve an overall economy, other alternatives available like corrugated fibre board boxes, corrugated polypropylene board boxes, plastic trays / crates / wooden sacks, molded pulp trays / thermoformed plastic trays and stretched film and shrink wrapping would have to be considered.

Modern packages for fresh fruits and vegetables are expected to meet a wide range of requirements, which may be summarized as follows.

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The packages must have sufficient mechanical strength to protect the contents during handling, transport and while sacked.

The construction material must not contain chemicals, which would transfer to the produce and cause toxic to it or to humans.

The package must meet handling and marketing in terms of weight, size and shape.

The packages should allow rapid coding of the contents.

The security of the package or its ease of opening and closing might be important in some marketing situations.

The package should identify its contents.

The package must be required to aid retail presentation.

The package might need to be designed for ease of disposal, reuse or recycling.

The cost of the package should be as less as possible.

Packaging may or may not delay or prevent fresh fruits and vegetables from spoiling. However, incorrect packaging will accelerate spoilage.

Packaging should serve to protect against contamination, damage and excess moisture loss.

The Characteristics of Packaging

The characteristics of packaging are to contain, to protect, to communicate and to market the product.

To contain produce:

• As an efficient handling unit, easy to be handled by one person.
• As a marketable unit. E.g. units with the same content and weight.

To protect produce against:

• Rough handling during loading, unloading and transport – rigid crate.
• Pressure during stacking.
• Moisture or water loss with consequent weight and appearance loss.
• Heat: air flow through crate or box via ventilation holes.
• Fumigation possible through ventilation holes.

To communicate:

• Identification: a label with country of origin, volume, type or variety of product, etc. printed on it.
• Marketing, advertising: recognizable trade name and trademark.

To market the product:

Proper packaging will lead to reduced injuries of fruits and vegetables and subsequently to improvement of appearance.

Standard units (weight, count) of a certain produce will increase speed and efficiency of marketing.

With reduced costs of transport and handling, stacking and combining of packages into layer units like pallets is possible. A more efficient use of space and reduced losses will lower the marketing costs.

Labels and slots facilitate inspection.

Role of Packaging in Preventing Mechanical Damage

The four main types of mechanical damage are cuts, compression bruises, impact damage and vibration rubbing.

Cuts: Care in harvesting and handling will help eliminate cuts and wounds. Lining of packaging with paper or leaves can also prevent damage to the contents.

Compression bruises: These can be reduced by using containers that are strong enough to withstand multiple stacking. The packaging materials need to be particularly strong at the vertical corners.

The packaging should also be shallow enough to prevent the bottom layers of produce from being damaged by the weight of produce above.

Cartons must not be overfilled or damage will be caused by the full weight of the pile of produce pushing down on the top layer of fruit or vegetables, causing the weight to be transmitted to the lower layers.

Impact damage: Shocks in transport or dropping of containers can result in this kind of damage. Dropping may occur either because a package is small enough to be thrown or because it is too big to be easily handled.

A packing unit should not exceed 50 kg as this is the maximum weight that can be easily handled.

Package size specifications usually depend on the customers’ requirements, although in many countries the supply of good packaging materials is limited and buyers may have to accept what is available.

Vibration rubbing: This kind of damage generally occurs during transport. It can be significantly reduced by preventing the produce from moving within the packaging while, at the same time, ensuring that fruits or vegetables are not forced together.

Fruits can be prevented from rubbing against one another by the use of cellular trays, individual wraps or cushioning pads.

An example is the use of paper and straw to separate layers of apples. An alternative approach is for the container to be gently shaken, in order to settle the produce, with the space created then being filled.

Packing materials can act as vapor barriers and can help maintain higher relative humidity within the package.

In addition to protection, packaging allows quick handling throughout distribution and marketing and can minimize impacts of rough handling.

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