Packages for road transportation of Sapota

 

Sapota (cv. Cricket ball) packed in two layers with partition and paper shreds as cushioning in customized Corrugated Fibre Board (CFB) box of size 400×300×150mm, 6kg capacity, 5 ply rate, 20BF bursting strength designed and fabricated by ICAR-IIHR was found suitable for road transportation. The samples packed in CFB box had   storage life of 11 days when stored in low temperature (15°C, 85% RH) and 6 days at ambient condition  (29-31°C, 52% RH) after transportation studies. At the end of the storage period, the weight loss and spoilage (%) of the sample was lesser in those packed in CFB box compared to those packed in plastic bag and bamboo basket both in low temperature and ambient condition. At the end of the storage period, the total sugar content ranged between 12.74 and 12.06% in samples packed in CFB box in low temperature storage as compared to total sugar content of 8.80-9.76% at ambient temperature storage.

 

 

Sapota in Customized Corrugated Fibre Board Box with partition


 
Sapota  Box Specification Capacity: 6kg
Material of construction Corrugated Fibre Board
External Dimension (mm) 400×300×150
Style  of  Box RSC 0301
No. of  Plies 5
Type of  Flute B (Narrow)
Direction of  Flute Vertical
Grammage (g/m2) 180/150/150
Burst Factor of the paper (Minimum) 20
Partitioning

Vertical-8

Horizontal -6
Partition material Corrugated
Fibre Board, 3ply thickness
Manufacturer’s joint and Cushioning material fixing By gluing

 

 

Sapota fruits need to be harvested at maturity which is a difficult task as judging the fruit maturity is done by external symptoms only. The major visual symptoms include colour change - fruit develops a dull colour at maturity which is generally related to potato colour, reduction in the brown scurf on the fruit skin and latex content. The harvested fruits have to be carefully collected and stored. Any physical damage during harvest will affect the quality of fruits. The peak harvest period in South India is October – November and March - May. The yield depends on several factors like age of the tree, variety, nutrition and the region of cultivation. A fully mature tree (15-20 year old) can produce up to 3500 fruits per tree per year.