Evaluation of orange mechanical damage during packaging by study of changes in firmness.
Mechanical damage during packaging can be determined by study of firmness changes of fruit. In this research, to simulate static and dynamic loads, the four deformations (0, 9, 18 and 27% of the major diameter) with the four compression rates (0, 25, 250 and 500 mm/ min) were conducted on oranges (Citrus sinensis var. Egyptian Valencia). A statistical factorial experiments in the form of completely randomize design (4×4) was applied to show the effects of these treatments on firmness in different regions of orange carpel. It is found that the compression rates did not have a significant effect on the firmness of the orange carpel. Also the oranges firmness for 9% deformation did not indicate significant difference with control samples (zero deformation).