Abstract
This paper deals with the breakdown of juice sacs produced in the processes of sorting, washing, and packing in connection with effects of the pertaining factors.
1. The severity of breakdown of the juice sacs that had been subjected to the impacts inflicted in all of the line processes was 5 times greater than that of juice sacs that had passed through only the first process of fruit handling in the packing house.
2. Breakdown of juice sacs was produced principally in the processes of dumping, mixing, and packing of fruit, and sealing and stacking of boxes. Two main factors that cause breakdown of juice sacs were dropping impact and compression.
3. Effects of fruit size, physical properties of peels, and preparatory drying on the breakdown of juice sacs were examined in connection with dropping impact and compression. In fruit smaller than L-size, fruit with relatively thin peels, and fruit that were subject to peel puffing, juice sacs were more susceptible to the breakdown because of tenderness of peels. Preparatory drying was also revealed to increase the breakdown of juice sacs caused by dropping and compression. A most possible reason is that firmness of fruit, especially stiffness of peel tissues, may considerably be decreased by the preparatory drying of fruit.
