| Summary: | Yellow Newtown apples handled in bulk in large twenty-five bushel bins showed less bruising than those handled in standard one-bushel field boxes. Most of the bruising took place during the dumping on to the grader operation rather than at picking time. The mechanical dumping of the large bins did not cause as severe bruising as did the manual dumping of the field boxes.
The apples bulk handled and stored in the large bins proceeded at a lower respiration rate, maintained a higher sugar level, kept firmer, shrivelled less and were freer from storage physiological disorders than those similarly handled and stored in the standard field boxes.
Storing apples in polyethylene bags kept the fruit in a similar physiological condition to that of apples stored in bulk bins. Evidence presented suggests that storage in large bulk bins effects apples in a beneficial manner similarly to the use of polyethylene box liners and to controlled atmosphere storage.
It was concluded that bulk-handling is beneficial to the post - harvest physiology of Yellow Newtown apples. It improves their storage qualities, preserves a better appearance and so increases their marketability in comparison to apples which are handled in standard field boxes. === Land and Food Systems, Faculty of === Graduate
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