Earticle

A concept of household container to create and keep the modified atmosphere (MA) beneficial for fresh produce mix was devised and tested under typical chilled storage conditions of 3°C. The container system containing mixed products is initialized by applying weak hypobaric condition (0.9 atm) and subsequently injecting CO2 gas at an appropriate low level (0.03 atm). The passive atmosphere modification by produce respiration is then induced to reach a target until gas diffusion tube of proper dimension starts to open. The design was made to attain quasi-steady state mass balance of O2, CO2 and N2 to maintain the desired MA through the storage. Interrupted opening for taking out or placing some products was to reinitialize the loop of control logic. The developed concept was tested by the container which held commodities of spinach, pak choi, oyster mushroom, peeled onion, strawberry and cut carrot. The target optimum MA of 11% O2 and 10% CO2 (0.11 and 0.10 atm, respectively) was set to avoid injurious range of O2 and CO2 concentrations for any commodities. The developed container system could work to reach and maintain beneficial MA of 0.10-0.12 atm O2 and 0.07-0.10 atm CO2 close to the target during the storage contributing to quality retention of products measured in weight loss, chlorophyll content of spinach, ascorbic acid content of pak choi, color of onion, texture of oyster mushroom, bacterial count of strawberry and carotenoids of carrot. The container system shows potential to improve current preservation practice of fresh produce mix on consumers’ level.

As post-harvest processes of onions are carried by a 20 kg-net package which results in high-cost and lowefficiency, especially, the insufficient drying and physical damage of onions after harvesting leads to a huge second loss in storage, we had developed a low-cost, high-efficiency post-harvest bulk handling machinery system by collecting onions on a farm using ton-bags, drying with forced air circulation, and sorting/packaging. The post-harvest bulk handling machinery system consisted of 6 devices, and this study designed an automatic feed hopper with a feeding rate control device, an inclined belt conveyor with a two-step chute, and an automatic pallet unloading device for feeding onions into the sorting/packing line. This study also analyzed the performance and control of the total system. The device had 1-ton handling capacity, but the operational condition was set to increase the capacity. The three-step filling method of pallet by the velocity control of the inclined belt conveyor was applied in the post-harvest bulk handling machinery system for the prevention of physical damage. If one worker was set to operate the total system, the time required to complete one palletized load was approximately 5 minutes and 5 seconds. The calculated daily handling capacity was approximately 94 tons, when the daily actual working time was 8 hours. When the developed system was applied to the managerial size of 2,000 ton, the processing cost per ton of the system was decreased by 19.5%, compared with the existing 20 kg-net package-based handling. The developed post-harvest bulk handling machinery system would be a good substitute for the rapid decline and aging of rural labor.

CO2 concentration in kimchi package has emerged recently as a potential index of product ripening to be monitored or sensed in intelligent packaging. Considering that addition of CO2 absorber into the flexible kimchi package changes behavior of its CO2 concentration, ripening of kimchi in total acidity, package CO2 concentration in partial pressure (PCO2) and package volume at 10oC were estimated by mathematical model for two size packages included with different CO2 absorbers. In small size package containing 0.5 kg of kimchi, relatively less gas permeable low density polyethylene (LDPE) sachet of the absorber was found to give rise of PCO2 linearly correlated with acidity at acceptable conditions of absorber amount and size. The levels of PCO2 at optimum ripening were different with absorber amount. However, highly gas permeable microporous spunbonded film (Tyvek) sachet did not show the linear relationship except a condition of 1.5 g of CO2 absorbent. In large size package containing 2.0 kg, absorber sachets of LDPE and Tyvek could give the linear relationship between product acidity and package PCO2 but at different levels (PCO2 of package with LDPE sachet: 0.46~0.79 bar, PCO2 of package with Tyvek sachet: 0.00~0.75 bar). The PCO2 at optimal ripening was found to be less variable with LDPE sachets than with Tyvek ones. Use of package CO2 concentration as an indicator of kimchi ripening was shown to be possible on the limited conditions where the linear relationship between them is established or confirmed.

A series of foamed plastic sheets containing biomass (as HMR container) were developed via different foaming process temperatures, and their density, porosity, WVTR, and pore morphology were evaluated. Thermal stability of samples during re-heating the food in oven, change in morphology, density, porosity, and WVTR were investigated using a simulated thermal shock process according to MIL-STD-883E assay. As such, the pore size of samples was generally increased with increasing temperature of the foaming process. It can be explained that as foaming temperature increased, the viscosity of molten resins and the repulsive force against pore expansion decreased. In addition, an increase in the thermal shock cycle reduced the pore size and WVTR, while density increased because high temperature treatment that softened the sheet matrix was followed by a low temperature incubation, which contracted the matrix, thereby changing the physical and morphological properties of samples. However, an insignificant change in density was observed and WVTR tended to be decreased, indicating that as-prepared foamed plastic sheets could be used as a high thermal stable container for HMR application. Therefore, it found that the properties of newly developed HMR containers containing biomass were dependent on the foaming process temperature. Moreover, to better understanding of these newly developed containers, further investigations dealing with foaming process temperature based on various food items and cooking conditions are needed.

In this study, the relationship between packaging design and logistics efficiency raised in prior research was to be conducted through empirical analysis in terms of SCM efficiency. The main research contents were carried out in the pursuit of efficiency of the relevant store operation, relationship with SCM efficiency aspects, resolution of differences in recognition between manufacturers and distributors, establishment of automated systems for RRP production facilities and processes in the manufacturer's facilities, logistics costs, environment and quality safety, and promotion of RRP through the manufacturer's packaging system. As a result of the verification of SCM efficiency aspects through this study, logistics efficiency will be reduced in the case of the packaging system or delivery system, where only the operational efficiency of the store is the top priority(χ2 = 178.500, p < 0.001). This is because of the strong interaction between packaging and supply chain activities, many packaging systems affect the performance criteria of the supply chain, and the content that packaging personnel should ensure that the packaging system meets other essential requirements while meeting the primary goal of protecting the product is also a result consistent with the preceding study. An analysis of whether the RRP promotion through the manufacturer's packaging system would result in improved loading efficiency showed that there was a statistically meaningful difference at a significant level of 0.000, as χ2 = 140.133.

The blends of Poly(lactic acid) (PLA) and Poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT) have been recognized as a replacement for commodity plastic films and bags in biodegradable packaging industries. The purpose of this study is to identify changes in the thermal and mechanical properties of PLA/PBAT blends with the addition of poly(ethylene oxide)(PEO). PLA (80%) and PBAT (20%) were melt mixed with 0 to 10 phr of PEO and processed using a hot press. The addition of PEO into PLA/PBAT increased the elongation at break and improved thermal stability. With PEO addition, two melting temperature (Tm) peaks of PLA/PBAT merged into one peak showing improved miscibility. The result of this study showed that the addition of PEO increased the ductility and thermal stability of PLA/PBAT blends.

The volume of parcel delivery is steadily increasing with the rapid growth of the global online e-commerce market. However, a large amount of packaging materials used for these parcel delivery is finally causing environmental problems as waste. In this study, we have taken a pilot test on the returnable parcel delivery packaging & service, which is one of various ways to reduce the generation of the distribution packaging waste raised by e-commerce-based parcel delivery. For the purpose of this project, we made 300 boxes of returnable & foldable delivery packaging(415 mm × 280 mm × 160 mm) and have cooperated with e-commerce company(CJ ENM) & logistics company(LogisAll). Consequently, about 50% of the delivered packages was returned because of the lack of consumer’s understanding on the returnable packaging system. We finally have suggested the policy strategy to get over problems derived from the experiment, like the retrieval rate and cost of the returnable packaging, economic efficiency and so on.

As sprout vegetables of interest growing, its maintaining the quality of the technology was needed to solve the problem of increasing growth and maintain quality after harvest. This experiment proved that the quality of radish sprout vegetable was affected by CO2 treatment during cultivation. Thus, the effect of CO2 treatment during cultivation on postharvest quality of radish sprout vegetable was investigated in terms of the quality changes in weight loss, gas partial pressure, SPAD, hue angle external appearance during storage at polypropylene film (thickness 30 μm) at 10oC. CO2 treatment used the way to gas with 700 ppm or carbonated water with 700 ppm and 1,400 ppm. The study revealed that growths on CO2 treated plant were more than those of non-treatment on stem length. After harvesting, the CO2 treated plant and control growing little different characteristics on fresh weight, plant length and so on. However, there were no differences between the CO2 treated plant and control on the Fv/Fm and SOD (superoxide dismutase). In gas partial pressure, the O2 consumption and CO2 accumulation of the CO2 treated plant tended to be more than that of non-treated plant. This study also checked that after packaging, the effects of CO2 treatment during cultivation on the quality of radish sprout vegetable was not significant. However, there were tended to CO2 treatments were lower value compared to control on SPAD, hue angle and general appearance. CO2 treatments of radish sprouting vegetable before harvest were improve growth of stem length, but ones were not improving the maintain of quality on radish sprout vegetable during shelf-life period. The results indicated that CO2 treatment only affected stem elongation until radish sprout vegetable its growth.

Due to the rapid increase in cyber shopping mall of agricultural products, the parcel delivery service industry also increased, making it necessary to design an optimum packaging for agricultural products. And Due to the recent increase in strawberry consumption, there is also a need for a packaging system for parcel delivery service. In order to establish the criteria for optimum cushioning packaging design of strawberries, the bioyield strength of strawberries by storage time was measured through the ASABE test standards, and the peak acceleration in the resonance frequency and resonance frequency bands of strawberries was measured through the vibration test regulated in the ASTM test specifications. Tray cup pad and corrugated fiberboard box of delivery strawberries were designed using FEM theoretical analysis of contact stress and resonant frequency. In addition, an optimum packaging system was developed with a cushioning and vibration design considering the impact characteristics when distributing agricultural products. Through the performance evaluation and on-site evaluation of the optimum packaging system of strawberries for parcel delivery service, the random PSD test results of the delivery showed a 74% reduction in the acceleration level, and the actual distribution test of the delivery showed that the damage rate of strawberries was not more than 6.7%, indicating that it was possible to use the optimum packaging of strawberries for delivery.