Three Systems for Handling Mechanically Harvested Lettuce
ABSTRACT THREE systems for handling mechanically harvested lettuce were evaluated. Tumbling the lettuce into bins that served as shipping containers was the most effi-cient and the condition of the lettuce at destination was at least as good as when packed into conventional car-tons. However, the bins must be settled either by vibra-tion or vacuum cooling and because of variability in con-tent of lettuce, the bins could not be used as a unit of measure. Lettuce was packed into cartons more efficient-ly on the harvester than at a central location.