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Engineering Methods for Packaging Design of Perishable Products

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A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Applied Biosciences and Bioengineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2019) | Viewed by 16633

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Special Issue Editor

Dr. Jorge Oliveira

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Guest Editor

Agrarian Scholl-IPV and CERNAS-IPV Research Centre, Polytechnic Institute of Viseu, 3504-510 Viseu, Portugal
Interests: product design engineering and affective product design; kinetics of quality and safety factors in bioprocesses, including predictive shelf life modelling; process modelling and optimisation, including Taguchi analysis and quality by design; engineering methods for packaging design of perishable products

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Engineering packaging design means that we can determine the properties of foods and of packaging materials and infer the appropriate characteristics of the latter that provide the maximum benefit to the former. The importance of this subject has not abated, from the relevance of extending shelf life to minimise undue losses to the need to replace oil-based plastics by renewable materials, the study of the dynamic interaction between product and package is key to improve the sustainability of food productions systems.

Engineering methods of packaging design need to successfully address three major elements: the kinetics of the biochemical and/or microbial metabolisms underpinning the consumption and production of gases in the package atmosphere; the permeance of the package to those gases; molecular exchange between package material and product (including both the absorption of flavours by the package and tainting of the product by the package constituents).

In all cases there are unresolved issues. For instance, in the case of respiration rates the determination of accurate parameters for Michaelis–Menten models, especially carbon dioxide-inhibited cases (but not only) has not received due attention, nor have we gathered sufficient data on the influence of ethylene content and even humidity in the atmosphere on the respiration rate parameters. In the case of permeance, the influence of water vapour/water content of the plastic in its permeance has been insufficiently well-considered especially for hydrophilic materials, which most bio-based plastics tend to be. In terms of molecular exchanges between package and product, there is very little information yet on the performance of the new bio-based materials being proposed in this domain.

I therefore believe that as we sit at the edge of a new boom in the research into bio-based renewable plastics, it is a good time to reflect on the state of the art and recent advances in the methods for the engineering design of packages, their benefits and limitations. This is the purpose of a Special Issue of Applied Science, which I therefore believe will be a valuable reference for researchers in the future.

One very important feature of the papers that we will be publishing to maximise their impact is their usability. We have to recognise that many companies handling agricultural produce do not avail of sophisticated software or mathematically-oriented staff. We should propose end results that are easy to apply if we wish to see the methods that we propose being used widely.

Dr. Jorge Oliveira
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

bio-based materials
carbon dioxide transmission rate
ethylene
fruits
Michaelis–Menten models
migration of packaging components
modified atmosphere packaging
oxygen transmission rate
packaging materials
perforated-mediated modified atmosphere
permeability
permeance
plasticising effect
respiration rate
shelf life
transpiration rate
vegetables
water vapour transmission rate

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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17 pages, 3074 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Modeling the Effect of Active Modified Atmosphere Packaging on the Microbial Stability and Shelf Life of Gutted Sea Bass

by Theofania Tsironi, Athina Ntzimani, Eleni Gogou, Maria Tsevdou, Ioanna Semenoglou, Efimia Dermesonlouoglou and Petros Taoukis

Appl. Sci. 2019, 9(23), 5019; https://doi.org/10.3390/app9235019 - 21 Nov 2019

Cited by 17 | Viewed by 2727

Abstract

The aim of the study was the evaluation and mathematical modeling of the effect of active modified atmosphere packaging (MAP), by the incorporation of CO₂ emitters in the package, on the microbial stability and shelf life of gutted sea bass during refrigerated storage. Gutted sea bass samples were packaged in modified atmosphere (50% CO₂–40% N₂–10% O₂) with and without CO₂ emitters (ACT-MAP, MAP) (gas/product volume ratio 3:1) and stored at isothermal conditions: 0 °C, 5 °C, and 10 °C. The gas concentration in the package headspace (%CO₂, %O₂) and microbial growth (total viable count, TVC, Pseudomonas spp., Enterobacteriaceae spp., lactic acid bacteria) were monitored during storage. The microbial growth was modeled using the Baranyi growth model, and the kinetic parameters (microbial growth rate, lag phase) were estimated at the tested temperature and packaging conditions. The results showed that the ACT-MAP samples presented significantly lower microbial growth compared to the MAP samples. The growth rate of the total viable count at 0 °C was 0.175 and 0.138 d⁻¹ for the MAP and ACT-MAP sea bass, respectively (p < 0.05). The shelf life of the MAP sea bass at 0–10 °C (based on a final TVC value: 7 log CFU g⁻¹) was extended 4–7 days with the addition of a CO₂ emitter in the package. The CO₂ concentration in the ACT-MAP samples was stabilized at approximately 60%, while the CO₂ in the MAP samples was approximately 40% at the end of the shelf life. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Engineering Methods for Packaging Design of Perishable Products)

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11 pages, 1712 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Evaluation of Fruit and Vegetable Containers Made from Mulberry Wood (Morus Alba L.) Waste

by Manuel Ferrandez-Villena, Clara Eugenia Ferrandez-Garcia, Teresa Garcia-Ortuño, Antonio Ferrandez-Garcia and Maria Teresa Ferrandez-Garcia

Appl. Sci. 2019, 9(9), 1806; https://doi.org/10.3390/app9091806 - 30 Apr 2019

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2368

Abstract

Mulberry trees (Morus alba L.) are used as ornamental and shade trees in urban gardening in Spain. These trees must be pruned once a year, and the waste is usually sent to the tip. Current research efforts aim to optimize biomass-based material sources and reduce the pressure on natural and planted forests. The objective of this study was to produce fruit and vegetable containers using particleboards made from mulberry tree pruning waste and to evaluate their properties. Mulberry particleboards were made and their mechanical properties were tested to demonstrate their suitability for industrial uses. Afterwards, the containers made with mulberry particleboards were tested. The strength of the containers was less than 5000 kg to dynamic compressive strength. Deformation by stacking was 3.15 mm, which is less than the maximum allowed of 6.1 mm, and flexural deformation of the base was 2 mm. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Engineering Methods for Packaging Design of Perishable Products)

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15 pages, 1689 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Effects of Dry, Humid and Wear Conditions on the Antimicrobial Efficiency of Triclosan-Containing Surfaces

by Abel Guillermo Ríos-Castillo, Carolina Ripolles-Avila and José Juan Rodríguez-Jerez

Appl. Sci. 2019, 9(8), 1717; https://doi.org/10.3390/app9081717 - 25 Apr 2019

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 3905

Abstract

This study evaluated the effects of triclosan-containing polyester surfaces under various conditions at concentrations of between 400 ppm and 850 ppm. Staphylococcus aureus was chosen for the tests because it rapidly develops resistance to many antimicrobial agents. The results show that dry and humid conditions have bacteriostatic activity that inhibits the growth of S. aureus, with a greater effect under dryness (p < 0.05). Further, concentrations as low as 400 ppm showed activities of 0.99 log₁₀ and 0.19 log₁₀ for dry and humid conditions, respectively. The study of the association between triclosan concentrations and bacterial inhibition showed a high correlation for dry (R² = 0.968) and humid conditions (R² = 0.986). Under wear conditions, triclosan showed a gradual reduction in its bacteriostatic activity due to successive washing/drying treatments (p < 0.05). Thus, the use of triclosan in low concentrations is suggested as achieving bacteriostatic activity. Moreover, its use can be considered as complementary to the cleaning and disinfection procedures carried out in the food industry. However, it must not replace them. Manufacturing processes must be improved to preserve the triclosan properties in the antimicrobial materials to control microorganisms involved in cross-contamination between surfaces and food. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Engineering Methods for Packaging Design of Perishable Products)

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20 pages, 4724 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Multi–Level Approach for Simulation of Storage and Respiration of Produce

by Mahmoud Elhalwagy, Nolan Dyck and Anthony G. Straatman

Appl. Sci. 2019, 9(6), 1052; https://doi.org/10.3390/app9061052 - 13 Mar 2019

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2601

Abstract

A produce gas respiration model and fruit-stack geometric digital generation approach is used with commercial CFD software (ANSYS CFX^TM) to conduct shape-level simulations of the fluid flow, heat and respiration processes that occur during the storage of produce, with the ultimate purpose of providing detailed information that can be used to develop closure coefficients for volume-averaged simulations. A digital generation procedure is used to develop an accurate representation of the shapes of the different produce. The produce shapes are then implemented into a discrete element modelling tool to generate a randomly-distributed stack of produce in a generic container, which is then utilized as a representative elementary volume (REV) for simulations of airflow and respiration. Simulations are first conducted on single pieces of produce and compared to a recently published experimental data for tomatoes and avocadoes to generate coefficients for the respiration model required for the shape-level simulations on the REV. The results of the shape-level simulation are then processed to produce coefficients that can be used for volume-averaged (porous-continuum-level) calculations, which are much more practical for simulations of large areas of storage comprised of hundreds or thousands of boxes of different commodities. The results show that the multi-level approach is a viable means for developing the simulation parameters required to study refrigeration, ripening and storage/transport of produce. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Engineering Methods for Packaging Design of Perishable Products)

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Review

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17 pages, 1326 KiB

Open AccessReview

Technologies and Fabrication of Intelligent Packaging for Perishable Products

by Lixing Wang, Zhenning Wu and Changyong Cao

Appl. Sci. 2019, 9(22), 4858; https://doi.org/10.3390/app9224858 - 13 Nov 2019

Cited by 38 | Viewed by 4525

Abstract

The preservation of perishable products to maintain their quality is of paramount importance for food safety and security, and is attracting more attention due to increasing concerns regarding food quality, healthcare, and quality of life. Advances in technology and materials in recent years have led to the development and implementation of intelligent packaging for perishable products that can monitor or even control their quality in a supply chain. In this paper, the techniques used in intelligent packaging (i.e., indicators, sensors, and identification technology) and the major printing methods for fabricating electronics (i.e., inkjet printing, screen printing, and gravure printing) are reviewed with a focus on the packaging of perishable products. Although the high manufacturing costs pose a major challenge the commercialization and large-scale deployment of perishable products, it is expected that the technological progresses in printing electronics will significantly reduce the manufacturing cost of intelligent packaging to a threshold of acceptance by markets. In addition, the broad applications of intelligent packaging can facilitate the traction and monitoring of perishable products for better control of the product quality and improved management of the supply chain. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Engineering Methods for Packaging Design of Perishable Products)

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