The recent innovation of overwrapping fruit in trays with a heat-shrinkable film (4) 
warranted a comparison of this method of packaging with others in maintaining quality in 
McIntosh apples. Four different packs, including two with prepackaged units, were tested 
for apples trucked to New York City from nearby packinghouses. The effect of handling 
on the condition of the fruit in three of these packages was also studied in retail stores, 
These tests were part of a broad research program by the Agricultural Marketing Service 
to reduce losses in quantity and quality of farm products in marketing channels, 
TRANSIT TESTS 
Methods 
The apples were packaged at Hudson Valley packinghouses at three intervals, about 
a month apart, during the fall and early winter of 1961, and trucked 80 to 100 miles to 
New York City for evaluation of condition, The packages tested were fiberboard cartons 
with the following contents: (1) Twelve 3-lb. polyethylene bags of apples, vertically 
positioned in two layers (fig. 1); (2) 120 apples in individual cells formed by fiberboard 
partitions (fig. 2); (3) twelve 8-apple trays, each overwrapped with a heat-shrinkable 
film (fig. 3); and (4) jumble-packed fruit. Manufacturers! certifications indicated a 
bursting test resistance of 200 pounds per square inch for the cartons of packs l, 2, and 
3, and a 275-pound resistance for the carton that was jumble-filled. 
BN-17680 
Figure 1. --Carton with twelve 3-lb. polyethylene bags of apples. Part of one 
side of carton was removed to reveal the vertical positions of the bags. 
Apples that were free of mechanical injury or those only slightly affected were used, 
with the bruises and punctures of the latter scored. The apples approximated 2 3/4 inches 
in size and were randomized throughout the different packages, which were made upi&in 
pairs for each trip. 
Each carton was dropped 6 inches at the start of a trip, 12 inches at a stop-point en 
route, and 18 inches at the destination to simulate rough handling at the shipping point, 
at a receiving warehouse, and in the retail store delivery, respectively. In transit, the 
paired packages occupied similar positions in the truck, 
at Ape 
