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

Area of Science:

• Agricultural Science
• Food Science
• Logistics and Supply Chain Management

Background:

• E-commerce logistics for perishable fruits like litchis commonly use foam containers with ice packs.
• Controlling temperature within these packages is challenging due to multiple influencing factors, impacting fruit quality.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how packaging variables affect the temperature and quality of litchis during e-commerce logistics.
• To identify optimal packaging strategies for maintaining litchi quality during transport.

Main Methods:

• Experimental study manipulating ice pack quantity, litchi pre-cooling temperature, litchi weight, and aluminum foil insulation.
• Monitoring Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) foam container environment temperature, fruit pericarp fungal counts, and marketable fruit rates.

Main Results:

• Terminal pre-cooling temperature significantly influenced fruit layer temperature; higher pre-cooling temperatures led to increased fungal growth.
• Increased litchi weight helped maintain lower temperatures but raised relative conductivity.
• More ice packs effectively slowed the decline of fruit soluble solids.

Conclusions:

• Pre-cooling temperature is a critical factor for litchi quality and safety in cold chain logistics.
• Packaging strategies involving ice pack quantity and litchi weight can mitigate quality degradation.
• Findings offer insights for improving cold chain logistics and transportation strategies for perishable agricultural products.