dc.contributor.author |
Broekman, Andre
|
|
dc.contributor.author |
Steyn, Wynand Jacobus Van der Merwe
|
|
dc.date.accessioned |
2022-05-09T12:23:30Z |
|
dc.date.issued |
2021-12 |
|
dc.description.abstract |
Cultivation of avocadoes serves as a key economic driver for many countries, including South Africa. Nearly all fresh produce produced forms part of a complex, interconnected transportation chain. Packhouses, representing a wide range of capacities and degrees of mechanization, serve to classify, treat and package the fresh produce prior to distribution by road, rail and ocean to its destination. Reducing the damage or postharvest stresses is paramount to ensure consistent quality of the ripened fruit. Packhouse operations represent the phase associated with the greatest degree of mechanical handling. Until now, quantification of packhouse activities exerted on the fruit has not been quantified with sufficient accuracy to identify characteristics of an optimized packhouse. This paper demonstrates the successful application of a novel sensor platform that measures the linear acceleration and rotational velocity of a typical avocado for 24 packhouses spread throughout South Africa. Unique statistics were developed pertaining to the distribution of contact forces, peak accelerations and rotational velocities, freefall events, freefall distance and impact energy experienced by avocadoes. A Damage Index Score (DIS) was developed to classify the relative performance of the sampled packhouses, alongside identification of key areas of concern where the greatest intensity and variation of postharvest stresses are observed. Improvement of avocado quality as a result of improving deficient practices and equipment ultimately reduces waste, prevalence of postharvest diseases and improves the income for farming communities. |
en_US |
dc.description.department |
Civil Engineering |
en_US |
dc.description.embargo |
2022-10-25 |
|
dc.description.librarian |
hj2022 |
en_US |
dc.description.sponsorship |
The South African Avocado Growers Association (South Africa), the Tomato Producers Organization (South Africa), the DST Post Harvest Innovation Programme (South Africa) the National Research Foundation (South Africa) and ZZ2 (South Africa). |
en_US |
dc.description.uri |
https://www.elsevier.com/locate/compag |
en_US |
dc.identifier.citation |
Broekman, A. & Steyn, W.J. 2021, 'smAvo : packhouse optimization using smart avocadoes in South Africa', Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, vol. 191, art. 106507, pp. 1-25, doi : 10.1016/j.compag.2021.106507. |
en_US |
dc.identifier.issn |
0168-1699 |
|
dc.identifier.other |
10.1016/j.compag.2021.106507 |
|
dc.identifier.uri |
https://repository.up.ac.za/handle/2263/85156 |
|
dc.language.iso |
en |
en_US |
dc.publisher |
Elsevier |
en_US |
dc.rights |
© 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Notice : this is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Computers and Electronics in Agriculture. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. A definitive version was subsequently published in Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, vol. 191, art. 106507, pp. 1-25, 2021. doi : 10.1016/j.compag.2021.106507. |
en_US |
dc.subject |
smAvo |
en_US |
dc.subject |
Packhouse optimization |
en_US |
dc.subject |
Avocadoes |
en_US |
dc.subject |
Postharvest |
en_US |
dc.subject |
Civiltronics |
en_US |
dc.subject |
Smart sensor platform |
en_US |
dc.title |
smAvo : packhouse optimization using smart avocadoes in South Africa |
en_US |
dc.type |
Postprint Article |
en_US |