Laboratory Sensitivity Study of Two Cultivars of Strawberry (Fragaria x ananass) Fruit to Bruising

In the present research, susceptibility of two strawberry cultivars (Selva and Gavita) to bruising was studied. Individual fruits were subjected to impact and compressive forces. Impact forces were applied through dropping the fruits from predetermined heights as well as pendulum. Bruising volume was considered as damage index. In both methods bruising severity was increased as a function of impact energy. Dropped fruits were showed higher bruising volume than those of fruits impacted by pendulum for similar energy levels. Increasing energy level by a factor of four (from 0.022 to 0.082 J) caused the bruise volume to increase by a factor of three (from 46 to 134.5 mm3). Increasing drop height from 18 cm (0.026 J) to 54 cm (0.079 J) caused the bruise volume to increase up to 35%. Bruise severity due to compression force was higher than those of obtained from other tests. Doubling the loading time from 2 to 4 seconds showed no significant difference in bruise volume. Although Gavita variety had greater sensitivity to bruising than Selva variety, the effect of variety was significant only in impact test with pendulum tester.