Browsing by Author "Ekanayake, Chandima"

Strawberries and raspberries have high demand in Europe and mostly consumed as fresh. Berries are highly perishable and so, their postharvest physiology and shelf life are important. Packaging is needed to keep the berries in good quality during the time in storage. Plastic clamshells are the commonly used type of packages for the berries but there are environmental concerns due to the heavy disposal of plastics. To overcome this problem, a fiber package is going to be introduced. It is biodegradable, biobased, made with renewable raw material and the final product is recyclable. This research focused on the mentioned fiber package and its functionality as a berry package and as possible replacement for plastic (RPET) clamshells. Homogenous batches of raspberries (Rubus idaeus) and strawberries (Fragaria × ananassa) were stored in plastic packages and fiber packages at two different temperatures (+3 °C and +17 °C/+16 °C). Decay incidence, weight loss, surface area of the berry, color, firmness, total soluble solid concentration, acidity, and package staining were measured over the storage period. Results showed that berries stored in fiber packages at +3 °C had higher soluble solid concentrations than the berries stored in plastic packages at the same temperature. Berries stored in fiber packages at both temperatures showed higher weight losses. Fiber packages absorbed more moisture from raspberries and strawberries than plastic packages. However, raspberries can be kept upto 8 days and strawberries can be kept upto 5 days under the marketable condition in fiber packages at +3 °C.