TABLE 2.-Net increases* of punctures and bruises retailed in McIntosh apple samples 
Method Month Number Number } Punctures Size and number of bruises 
of tested of per 100 fruit 
merchandising t samples j 
V/2n-3/4n 7 3/4nen Total 
No. No. No. No. 
1 
3-1b. poly 18 175 le 76 59 B 1 73 
bags 23 273 61 103 25 3 algak 
Bulk (from a7, 136 58 46 6 ah 5S 
cell cartons) Pil: 168 32 89 9 2 100 
Overwrapped 7 136 al 4 1 0 3) 
trays. 23 184 alk Dall 28 al 80 
1 after fruit was delivered to store by USDA personnel in January tests. After fruit was 
delivered to distributing warehouse by USDA personnel in March test. 
2 Fruit pressures in 2 Jamary tests averaged 10.6 and 11.1 1b. Fruit pressures in March 
test averaged 10.7 1b. 
Movement of the fruit from cell packs was good also. However, the samples from 
the bulk displays indicated that almost as much deterioration had taken place in this fruit 
as had occurred in the poly bags. 
In the March test bruising was much more pronounced in all samples, which were 
collected over a 2-day period in 2 stores (table 2), Fruit firmness wasn't much ofa 
factor since flesh firmness of the March apples averaged within 1/2 pound of that in the 
January tests. The crinkled condition of some of the cartons upon reaching the store in- 
dicated rough handling of these apples from the warehouse to the two stores, both of 
which were located less than 2 miles away. Undoubtedly, this accounted for some of the 
increase in bruising damage. 
While the increase in bruising in the March test was high in all the samples, the 
manyfold increase in the shrink-film overwraps over the bruising found in the January 
tests was particularly striking. Bruises over 1/2 inch totaled 80 in contrast to the 5 
found per 100 fruit in the earlier tests. From the location of the bruises and the condi- 
tion of the tray partitions, much of the damage could be attributed to the failure of the 
partitions to withstand the damaging overhead stresses that were occasioned by rough 
handling of the cartons, The commercial 125-pound test fiberboard partition was simply 
not strong enough to protect the fruit in this relatively expensive pack, In the last transit 
test, the replacement of the commercial tray partition with a more rigid one, made from 
_ layer pad material, had greatly increased the protection of the fruit in this pack (table 1), 
Despite the large increase in bruising damage in the overwrapped trays, the overall 
condition was still superior to that of the others. There was only 1 new puncture per 100 
of these fruit sampled. As before, the condition of the poly-bagged fruit had deteriorated 
the most, while that of the bulk fruit was intermediate between the two prepackaged units, 
The March samples were held under conditions favoring decay to determine whether 
any differences that resulted could be related to the way the samples were merchandised, 
After being held 4 days at 70 F. and 85 to 90 percent relative humidity, 18.6 percent of 
all the sampled fruit decayed (table 3), Many of the rot lesions were under 1/2 inch in 
diameter. In all but 2 of the 116 fruit affected, decay developed in puncture sites which 
were made, usually by stems, in fruit en route to and while in the stores, The immobili- 
zation of the apples in trays by the shrink-film overwrap reduced puncturing to a mini- 
mum, and less than 1 percent of the apples in these trays decayed. Punctures were much 
Bwee x 
