Presented by:

Qayoom sidique
Id No.
45749
Course Instructor:
Dr. J. P . Pandey
Professor, Deptt. of PHPFE

Causes of Mechanical
Damage
External
Forces
Stati
c
Dynami
c

Physical changes

Internal
Forces

Variation in Temperature & Moisture

Content

Biological Changes
Chemical Changes

Examples
Mechanical Injuries in
Fruits and Vegetables,
Seeds,
Grains,
Eggshell,
Bones in Dressed Poultry

Examples
Stress Cracks in Corn and
Rice, Thermal Checking of
eggshell, Skin Cracks in sweet
cherries, tomato and sweet
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

Theory
Maximum stress theory

Maximum strain theory

Maximum shear theory

Criteria for strength

Max principal stress (tension)

Min principal stress (compression)

Max principal strain (tension)

Min principal strain (compression)

Failure begins when

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

Maximum energy theory

Strain energy/unit volume

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

Wound
(puncture, crack)
Preventing injuries is important to avoid infection.
Degree of infestation depends on:Nature of fungi
Resistance of the product

Healing

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:
Cutting
Peeling
bruising

Enzymatic
browning
Apple
Pear
Peach
Apricot
Banana
Cherry

Browning
Chemistry not fully known

Non-enzymatic
browning
Processed foods:

Fruit juices

Dried fruits

POTATOES: 2 TYPES OF DAMAGES

Black heart

Black heart

Compression of whole tuber

Due to oxygen deficiency(postulation)

No external evidence

On cutting: breakdown and

discolouration in few days

Due to mechanical injury by

impact (Wiant et al 1995)

Greyish black colour due to

melanin secreted

Tyrosine is oxidized to melanin

(Talburt and Smith 1967)