Presented by: Qayoom sidique

Id No. 45749
Course Instructor: Dr. J. P . Pandey
Professor, Deptt. of PHPFE
 Causes of Mechanical
Damage
External Internal
Forces Forces
Stati Physical changes
c Variation in Temperature & Moisture
Dynami Content
c Biological Changes

Chemical Changes

Examples Examples
Mechanical Injuries in
Fruits and Vegetables, Stress Cracks in Corn and
Seeds, Rice, Thermal Checking of
Grains, eggshell, Skin Cracks in sweet
Eggshell, cherries, tomato and sweet
Bones in Dressed Poultry potato
 How Mechanical Damage?
Not fully investigated yet

In engg. materials failure has been studied only in few exceptional and
more common cases

Agri. Products: No satisfactory criteria of failure is available

Failure in engg. materials MAY occur as a result of:

Elastic deformation
Inelastic deformation (yielding) and
Rupture of the material

Agri-products: Failure is manifested through rupture in internal or

external cellular structure of the material.
THEORIES FOR ENGG MATERIALS
Criteria for strength
Theory
Maximum stress theory Max principal stress (tension)
Min principal stress (compression)

Max principal strain (tension)

Maximum strain theory Min principal strain (compression)

Maximum shear theory Failure begins when

max shear stress = one-half of max stress at yield point

Strain energy/unit volume

Maximum energy theory
 To know max. allowable stress in agri. products under practical conditions
mechanical properties at simple stress conditions such as tension, compression
and shear under static are first determined.

Then theories of failure can be applied to predict failure under combined stress
conditions.
 Biological and Chemical Reactions Following Mechanical
Damage
Infectious Diseases

Infection Incubation Healing

Wound
(puncture, crack)

Preventing injuries is important to avoid infection.

Degree of infestation depends on:-

Nature of fungi

Resistance of the product

 Caldwell and Davies (1957) found that most moulds show no
signs of penetration.

A break in testa, aleurone layer serves as entry point

Occurs at high moisture content

Reducing moisture content to14% (wet basis) would stop the

activity of most fungi

For long term storage <13% is recommended

Mechanical injuries: Browning
Cutting
Peeling Chemistry not fully known
bruising

Enzymatic Non-enzymatic
browning browning

Apple
Pear Processed foods:-
Peach
Apricot Fruit juices
Banana
Cherry Dried fruits
POTATOES: 2 TYPES OF DAMAGES
Black heart Black heart

Compression of whole tuber

Due to mechanical injury by
Due to oxygen deficiency(postulation) impact (Wiant et al 1995)

No external evidence Greyish black colour due to

melanin secreted
On cutting: breakdown and
discolouration in few days
Tyrosine is oxidized to melanin
(Talburt and Smith 1967)