There was considerably more damage in the other two packs (table 1). The poly- 
bagged fruit sustained an average of 24 punctures per 100 fruit without much variation 
in the three tests. Bruising damage, however, increased substantially with each test, 
pointing up the relationship between the firmness of the fruit and its susceptibility to 
bruising, This relationship was also evident in the jumble-packs, where the greatest 
amount of mechanical injury to fruit occurred, The number of bruises over 1/2 inch 
soared from 86 per 100 fruit in the first run to 188 in the third run. The increases were 
of much greater proportions in the larger-size bruise categories. New punctures per 
100 apples ranged from 25 to 33 in the three trips. 
RETAIL TESTS 
Methods 
Three retail store tests were conducted in 1962 with the cooperation of a large food 
chain organization that regularly received its McIntosh apples in cartons of cell-packs 
and prepackaged poly-bagged units. For comparison studies, the inclusion of shrink-film 
overwraps was effected in some supermarkets in New York City. Two tests were made in 
January and one in March, 
The apples selected for the January tests were U. S. Fancy grade fruit from Hudson 
Valley commercial cell packs of 120 fruit. The bruises and punctures, principally minor, 
were scored and averaged, The fruit was randomized and repackaged in 3-lb. poly bags 
(12 bags per carton), in shrink-film overwrapped trays (16 trays per carton), and in 
cell cartons of 120 apples. 
In the March test, the test cartons of cell packs and of overwrapped trays were 
similarly made up from commercial cell packs of 120 (2 3/4'' size) with McIntosh from 
a controlled atmosphere (CA) stored lot. For a more realistic comparison, the poly bags 
were prepackaged commercially with CA fruit from the same lot of a wider size range, 
having a 2 1/4 inch minimum, The amount of mechanical injury present in this fruit 
when packaged was estimated by inspecting a representative number of bags, 24 out of 
the test lot of 288, at the packinghouse, 
A sufficient number of test packages was prepared to provide for a 1- to 2-day 
supply for each store selected. The supply ranged from 3 to 5 cell cartons, 3 to 6 car- 
tons of overwrapped trays, and 4 to 12 cartons of poly-bagged fruit. In January, the 
packages were delivered to one supermarket directly for testing. In March, the packages 
were delivered to the chain's warehouse; from there they were distributed by commercial 
trucks to two supermarkets, The fruit was refrigerated in the stores until displayed for 
sale. Apples from the cell packs were displayed in bulk on the fruit counter, as was 
customary, while the prepackaged units were displayed separately in layers of 3 to 4 
tiers. To measure quality deterioration on the retail counter, apples were sampled every 
2 hours during a 1- to 2-day retail period, 
Results and Discussion 
The results of the January tests are summarized in table 2. They indicate the de- 
terioration that took place in the store. In both tests, the only change in quality noted 
during the short retail period was that brought on by mechanical injury, caused for the 
most part by shoppers. The increase in bruises over 1/2 inch in size and in punctures 
was very low in the overwrapped trays. The attractive appearance of this consumer unit 
reduced handling by shoppers and helped to maintain sales at a fairly good pace, 
While mechanical injury was greatest in the poly-bagged fruit, it wasn't excessive. 
The uniform size and the good appearance of the U. S. Fancy grade fruit within the poly 
bags plus a good price differential spurred sales of this item substantially. 
Pape 
