الفهرس 
INTRODUCTIONOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
 |  | from | 129 |  |  |
| | | from | 129 | | |
Abstract
This study was conducted at the Agricultural Engineering Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Suez Canal University in order to estimate the extent of the damage occurred in tomato crop during the simulated transport. A simulation prototype for transport process was designed with five levels of vibration frequency: 5, 7.5, 10, 12.5 and 15 Hz, three vibration durations: 30, 60, 90 min and three box positions: top, middle and bottom were used to estimate the mechanical damage occurred in tomato fruits. The damage was evaluated based on three different parameters (damage ratio, the equivalent bruise index ”EBI” and bruise area index ”BAI”). The effects of the studied variables were investigated individually and the interaction between them on damage, weight loss and firmness after vibration treatment was also demonstrated. The results showed that the studied variables (vibration frequency ”VF”, vibration duration ”VD”, and box position ”BP”) and the interactions between them significantly affect the damage ratio, EBI, BAI, weight loss and firmness values. Increasing the vibration duration led to increasing in damage ratio, EBI, BAI and weight losses in tomatoes and decreasing the firmness value for all vibration frequency levels. Also, the values of damage ratio, EBI, BAI and weight losses increased and the firmness decreased from bottom to top boxes for all vibration frequency levels. The results showed that the highest value of damage ratio, EBI, BAI and weight losses and the lowest value of firmness was recorded at the upper box when the simulation system was operated at vibration frequency of 7.5 Hz for a duration of 90 min compared to the other frequency levels because when the combination of amplitude and frequency in the upper boxes at frequency of 7.5 Hz gave the highest acceleration. The high acceleration makes some fruits momentarily weightless and free to strike other fruits during the entire vibration duration (90 min). The information obtained from this study is very important when designing handling equipment, suspension systems, conveyor belts and packaging methods to reduce mechanical damages of fruits and vegetables.
Tomato - Vibration - Transport process - Mechanical damage – Firmness - Damage ratio - Image processing - Equivalent bruise index (EBI) - Bruise area index (BAI) - Postharvest losses