Analysis of protective ability of pomelo peel against impact damage to apple for cushioning packaging design

The design of high-performance cushioning structures plays a crucial role in preventing mechanical damage to apples during storage, handling and transportation. The impact test, microstructure observation and discrete element method were employed to assess the protective effect of pomelo peel on the damage resistance of apples. The results showed that the 'Red honey' pomelo peel was more suitable as a packaging material than the 'Shatian' pomelo peel due to its thinner structure and comparable strain resistance. The mesocarp of the 'Red Honey' pomelo exhibits a distinct reticular structure despite its reduced thickness. This architecture allows the peel to tolerate higher impact force (116.53 N) and elastic modulus (1.10 MPa), indicating that protective performance is governed by structural design rather than tissue bulk. Based on the cell structure and intercellular pore size characteristics of the pomelo mesocarp, a biological damage-resistant structure prediction model was developed. The results demonstrated that the predictive mathematical model exhibited a good fit (R²= 0.9003), with pomelo peel impact resistance prediction of 0.1766 ms. The factors influencing the damage resistance of the model's structural blocks followed the order: loading velocity (V) > porosity (P) > block size (S). Pomelo peel offers a structural model for protective produce packaging.

Citation

Yu, J., Qiang, H., Tang, W., Tchuenbou-Magaia, F., Marie-Laure, F., Burgeon, C., Wang, M., Liu, Y. and Li, Z. (2025) Analysis of protective ability of pomelo peel against impact damage to apple for cushioning packaging design. Food Packaging and Shelf Life, 52, 101644.

Type

Journal article

Language

en

Description

This is an author's accepted manuscript of an article published by Elsevier on 13/10/2025, available online: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fpsl.2025.101644 The accepted manuscript may differ from the final published version.

ISSN

2214-2894

Collections

Faculty of Science and Engineering