Effects of Different Litchi E-Commerce Logistics Packaging Methods on Microenvironment and Fruit Quality Variations

"Foam container + ice pack" is a common packaging form for e-commerce logistics of litchis. However, there are numerous factors affecting the temperature variation under this logistics mode, making it difficult to control the packaging temperature and litchi quality during the e-commerce logistics process. In order to explore the impact of the packaging scheme on the packaging environment temperature and the quality variation in litchis during the "foam container + ice pack" logistics process, this paper takes the number of ice packs, the terminal pre-cooling temperature of litchis, the weight of litchis, and whether to use aluminum foil insulating film as variable factors to study the impact rules of these factors on the EPS (Expanded Polystyrene) foam container environment temperature, the total number of fruit pericarp, and the marketable fruit rate. The experimental results show the following trends: the terminal pre-cooling temperature has a significant impact on the daily average temperature of the fruit layer; the packaging environment temperature of the 15 °C pre-cooling group on the first day and the second day is 5.00 °C and 2.78 °C higher than that of the 5 °C pre-cooling experimental group, respectively. Moreover, under this treatment, the growth rate of fruit pericarp fungi is relatively fast, which could reach 3.87 Lg (CFU/g) on the second day. Increasing the amount of litchis could maintain a lower temperature environment, but it will cause the relative conductivity increasing 4.12% compared with the groups with no weight increasing. Increasing the number of ice packs could significantly reduce the decline rate of fruit soluble solids in the first two days. The research results of this paper are expected to provide a certain reference for the quality assurance logistics and the formulation of long-distance transportation strategies for perishable agricultural products.