Fresh fruits export from India:

India ranks second in fruits and vegetable production in the world. India accounts for about
10% of the world’s fruit production. Being an agrarian economy, there’s a huge potential in
export of fresh fruits and vegetables from India. During 2019-20, India exported fruits and
vegetables worth Rs. 9,182.88 crores/ 1,277.38 USD Millions which comprised of fruits
worth Rs. 4,832.81 crores/ 668.75 USD Millions. [1] Bangladesh is one of the biggest trading
partner of India for fresh fruits. Apart from this, India is gaining huge market share in the
UK, Netherlands, Qatar, France and Germany.

Packaging requirements for export of fresh fruits:

Natural products normally have a limited shelf life, and anyone who deals with natural
products tries to extend their shelf life as long as possible. Fruits and vegetables are natural
products with special characteristics. The special nature of tropical fruits and vegetables is
that after reaching their peak in taste and appearance within a relatively short period, they
break down and lose all their attractiveness to a consumer. The goal is thus to offer the
consumer tropical fruit in its optimum condition, and all efforts must be made to achieve this.
[3]
Fruits go through the following processes before being exported:
PRE−HARVESTING
↓
HARVESTING
↓
FUNGICIDE TREATMENT
↓
SELECTION ∧GRADING
↓
PACKAGING
↓
COLD STORAGE
↓
TRANSPORTATION – SEA∨ AIR
↓
STORAGE/ RIPENING
↓
DISTRIBUTION
↓
 RETAILING

During the journey, the package encounters various types of distribution hazards like
mechanical, climatic, biological contamination and other hazards. Packaging materials and
the system followed plays an important role in preventing these losses at the farm and during
the distribution chain. Packaging reduces wastes, adds value and makes the product
qualitatively and quantitatively acceptable. In case of horticultural produce, packaging is
required not only to enhance the aesthetic value, but also to keep the produce in good
condition for long periods. With the multifarious functions, the prospective of packaging has
widened significantly. Today, packaging is considered as one of the most important
operations.
In case of horticultural produce, it is required to transport the produce to the site of the
storage, and ensure processing or marketing in a sound condition as quickly as possible. In
most cases, the fresh produce gets bruised during transportation. Physical injury initiates
vigorous bio-chemical reactions in the damaged cells, and as a result, the bruised product
begins to deteriorate rapidly. Thus, the transport pack must ensure minimal damage to the
packaged commodity during transportation.[6]

The basic requirements for packaging, common to almost all countries where India exports
fresh fruits are:
Containment:
The container must enclose the produce in convenient units for handling and distribution. The
produce should fit well inside the container, with little wasted space. Small produce items
that are spherical or oblong (such as apples) may be packaged efficiently utilizing a variety of
different package shapes and sizes. However, many produce items such as asparagus, berries,
or soft fruit may require containers specially designed for that item. Bulk packages moved by
forklifts may weigh as much as 1,200 pounds. [2]
Protection:
(i) The package must protect the produce from mechanical damage and poor
environmental conditions during handling and distribution. Produce containers
must be sturdy enough to resist damage during packaging, storage, and export.
Because almost all produce packages are palletized, produce containers should
have sufficient stacking strength to resist crushing in a low temperature, high
humidity environment.
(ii) Produce destined for export markets requires containers to be extra sturdy. Air-
freighted produce may require special packing, package sizes, and insulation.
Damage resulting from poor environmental control during handling and transit is
one of the leading causes of rejected produce and low buyer and consumer
satisfaction. Each fresh fruit and vegetable commodity has its own requirements
for temperature, humidity, and environmental gas composition. Produce
containers should be produce friendly - helping to maintain an optimum
environment for the longest shelf life. This may include special materials to slow
 the loss of water from the produce, insulation materials to keep out the heat, or
engineered plastic liners that maintain a favourable mix of oxygen and carbon
dioxide.[2]
(iii) Cold storage and continual air exchange are absolutely necessary for tropical
fruits and vegetables to maintain their freshness as long as possible. The fruit
begins to change immediately after being harvested. It is thus essential to treat it
correctly after picking. The fruit intended for export must be harvested at the right
state of ripeness and all post-harvest procedures, including cleaning, sorting,
grading and packing both manually and by machine, must be done very carefully.
The fruit for export should be cooled immediately after harvesting and the cold
storage facilities should only be used for the processing mentioned in the
foregoing. Once the packing has been completed, the ready cartons, boxes or bins
must be brought back to the cold-storage warehouses.
The "correct" stage of ripeness of the fruit when harvested varies depending upon
its subsequent use, for example whether it is to be sold on the local market,
exported by air over a long distance, or transported by truck, rail or ship.
Whatever the end purpose may be, the fruit should never be stored without careful
consideration of the fresh air flow and correct constant temperature. Storage
without ventilation is therefore unacceptable. Moreover, for a modern and
effective fruit industry, it is necessary to transport fruit into cold storage
immediately after harvesting. When the fruit is placed in the cold storage at
optimum temperature, it has to be shipped under the same condition in a reefer
space or container, and the dealer in the country of destination must keep it in cold
storage. The temperature should not be changed during this procedure, and storage
without refrigeration and ventilation is a sure way to destroy the merchandise.
There are also risks in handling the fruit and vegetables under low temperature.
Risk number one is the danger of an excessively low temperature. Lists are
available for showing the lowest admissible temperature for each sort of fruit or
vegetable. [3]
For example, the permissible limit for some of the fruits is:

Fruit Temperature Relative atmospheric

humidity

Pineapple (green) 11-12°C/52-53°F 85-90%

Avocado 10-12°C/50-53°F 85-90%

Banana 13°C/55°F 90%

Guava 8-10°C/47-50°F 90%

Litchi 0-2°C/32-35°F 90-95%

 Mango 10-14°C/50-57°F 90%

Papaya 10°C/50°F 90%

Passion fruit 7-10°C/45-50°F 85%

Identification:
The package must identify and provide useful information about the produce. It is customary
(and may be required in some cases) to provide information such as the produce name, brand,
size, grade, variety, net weight, count, grower, shipper, and country of origin. It is also
becoming more common to find included on the package nutritional information, recipes, and
other useful information directed specifically at the consumer. In consumer marketing,
package appearance has also become an important part of point of sale displays.
Universal Product Codes (UPC or bar codes) may be included as part of the labelling. The
UPCs used in the food industry consist of a ten-digit machine readable code. The first five
digits are a number assigned to the specific producer (packer or shipper) and the second five
digits represent specific product information such as type of produce and size of package.
Although no price information is included, UPCs are used more and more by packers,
shippers, buyers, and retailers as a fast and convenient method of inventory control and cost
accounting. Efficient use of UPCs requires coordination with everyone who handles the
package. [2]

Recyclability/Biodegradability:
A growing number of export markets have waste disposal restrictions for packaging
materials. In the near future, all produce packaging will be recyclable or biodegradable, or
both.[4]

Different Types of Secondary Packaging for export of fruits:

Secondary Packaging: This type of packaging is used outside of primary packaging to group
a certain number of products to create a stock-keeping unit, commonly referred to as a SKU.
It facilitates the handling of smaller products by collating them into a single pack. This type
of packaging also provides supplementary protection to help maintain the integrity of the
primary packaging. Secondary packaging is frequently made up of multiple components
(box, padding, separators, reinforcements, bags, paper, etc.). It may also be customized to
make a product easily identifiable in the warehouse setting.[5]
Different types of packaging:
1) Corrugated Fibreboard Boxes:
CFB (Corrugated fibreboard) boxes are the most commonly used shipping containers
where cartons, glass, cans and pouches are the unit containers.[4]

2) Plastic Corrugated Boxes:

The most commonly used material for plastic corrugated box is polypropylene and
HDPE (High Density Poly Ethylene). Its advantage over CFB is low weight to
strength ratio and its reusability. CFB box has an edge over plastic fibreboard boxes
when cushioning properties are taken into consideration.[4]

3) Plastic Crates:
Plastic crates, usually made up of HDPE or polypropylene by injection moulding have
been replacing wooden and wire crates. These crates must have good resistant
properties to ultraviolet degradation and shock damages.[4]

4) Wooden Boxes:
Includes natural wood and industrially manufactured wood-based sheet materials.
Manufactured wood based sheet materials include ply wood, hard board and particle
board. Plywood is usually made from birch. t is rigid and strong, though perhaps
somewhat less resistant to splintering than poplar, but is smoother and flatter to be
suitable for direct printing.[4]

5) Pallets:
Pallets have been standardised keeping in view of the standard package sizes and sea
containers. The sizes of the pallets are of strategic importance since they correspond
directly to the sizes of various types of containers, ship cargo compartments, trucks,
fork trucks, etc. Most commonly used pallet sizes are 120×80 cm (Euro pallet) and
120×100 cm (Sea pallet). Sea pallets are most commonly used outside Europe.[4]

6) Ethylene Scavengers:
Ethylene (C2H4) acts as a plant hormone that has different physiological effects on
fresh fruit and vegetables. It accelerates respiration, leading to maturity and
senescence, and also softening and ripening of many kinds of fruits.[4]

7) CO2 Scavengers:
 CO2 is formed in some foods due to deterioration and respiration reactions. The
CO2 produced has to be removed from the package to avoid food deterioration and/or
package destruction. CO2 absorbers might therefore be useful.[4]

8) Oxygen Scavenging:
Oxygen is such a broadly effective agent of deterioration in foods that a substantial
industry has been established to provide a wide range of alternative means of oxygen
removal from package headspace to reduce chemical deterioration.[4]

9) Humidity Regulators:
This approach allows the food packer to reduce the surface concentration of water in a
food by reducing the in-pack relative humidity. This can be done by placing one or
more humectants between two layers of a plastic film which is highly permeable to
water vapour. A different approach to humidity buffering is being developed for use
in the distribution of horticultural produce which is normally distributed in fibreboard
cartons, usually with a polyethylene liner or made from very expensive waxed
fibreboard without a liner. A recent development has been the water-barrier coating of
the inside of fibreboard cartons to allow moist produce to be placed directly into the
carton.[4]

10) Antimicrobial Packaging:

Substantial recent research has been directed at determining how the surfaces of
plastics can be made not only sterile but also capable of having an antimicrobial effect
on the packaged food or beverage. This type of effect has already been achieved in
outer layers of laminates by use of modified printing presses. To control undesirable
microorganisms on foods, antimicrobial substances can be incorporated in or coated
onto food packaging materials. The principle action of antimicrobial films is based on
the release of antimicrobial entities, some of which could pose a safety risk to
consumers if the release is not tightly controlled by some mechanisms within the
packaging material.[4]

References:

1) http://apeda.gov.in/apedawebsite/six_head_product/FFV.htm
2) https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/packaging-requirements-for-fresh-fruits-and-vegetables
3) http://www.nzdl.org/cgi-bin/library?e=d-00000-00---off-0unesco--00-0----0-10-0---0---
0direct-10---4-------0-1l--11-en-50---20-about---00-0-1-00-0--4----0-0-11-10-0utfZz-8-
00&cl=CL2.4&d=HASH01d21eb954c4b679239541e0.7.3.7&gt=1
4) https://tandleimex.com/packaging-for-fruit-and-vegetables/
5) https://www.emballagecartier.com/en/article/primary-secondary-and-tertiary-packaging-
whats-the-difference/
6) http://icpe.in/icpefoodnpackaging/pdfs/18_freshfruits.pdf