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The bumpy road to perfect fruit

Everyone loves bananas. But consumers rarely buy bruised fruit. Indika Fernando is using a model truck to measure how and where bananas get bruised in transit, and how to stop it.

Would you buy a bruised banana? Many shoppers won’t. And that is having a huge impact on the banana industry. 

PhD candidate Indika Fernando is researching how to improve banana quality in the post-harvest supply chain.

Bananas are susceptible to bruising. The resulting wastage can range from five per cent to 40 per cent depending on the country. It’s a lot of money we are talking about. The chances of a consumer buying a bruised banana are minimal, so it is a lost opportunity for the retailer as well as the producer.

“What we are trying to understand with this research is what is going on from the producer to the retailer and what causes this damage to the bananas.”

Even if the damaged fruits could be less than five percent, in one delivery that is a huge amount in terms of money. That’s why this project is of such importance.

“There are several reasons for wastage in the fresh produce supply chains.

“Compression forces, vibration forces, and impact forces significantly affects the produce in transit. What we are trying to do is analyse the vibration force and how it affects the fresh produce using vibration sensors. 

Indika uses a small model truck fitted with vibration sensors that capture vibration and shocks which was developed to verify the methodology for data collection.

“The sensors are capable of capturing data at a very high rate, at about 400 readings per second.

“What we try to do is establish the link between the variables and the vibration impact, and the result of the damage.”

The vibration signals are captured wirelessly and transferred onto a computer program.

“The signals are processed in real time so we can actually see what’s going on in terms of vibration.

“We can then try to quantify it and try to characterise the vibration impacts with the damage to the produce. Then we can see how best we can work to eliminate this loss and improve the visual quality.

We use toy trucks to verify the method, but the aim is to use these sensors in the real environment.

“The GPS is enabled in the sensors so you can see where in the supply chain the shock was encountered, so you can identify the root cause. One of the challenges was to get the GPS signal out of the containers because they’re made out of metal. We’re working on that. We plan to use about six sensors in the real trucks’ cargo holds.

If we really know the factors behind the damage, we can develop counter measures.

Indika said it’s hard to say yet what the solutions might be.

“It depends on what the problems might be and what causes this damage. The solution could be a development in terms of packaging, it could depend on the truck suspension and the speed of the truck, or it could be the terrain; there are several variables. 

“When we know the gravity of these variables it’s really easy for us to focus on solutions to minimise damage.”

So why don’t we simply buy the bananas that are a bit bruised?

The quality of fresh produce is important to the consumer in two instances. When someone is buying it, and when someone is consuming it. When someone buys a banana because it looks nice, we call it the perceived value of the fruit.

“The perception for the consumer, according to previous studies, is that if the banana looks nice and is less bruised, the tendency of purchasing is higher. That means there is a direct link to the perceived value of bananas and consumer behaviour.

“According to the feedback we get from the industry, this is an area that needs improvement. If you wanted to boost the sales or add more value to the product this is a necessity.”

Indika’s research outcome could eventually be applicable to other fruits.

There’s a lot of produce that goes through the same process in transit so we can address these areas in not only bananas, but in the whole fresh produce industry. This type of study will be helpful for many other areas, worldwide.

Indika already holds an undergraduate degree focusing on the supply chains, and a PhD in the ARC Training Centre for Innovative Horticultural Products was the perfect opportunity to work towards his area of interest.

“I came here from Sri Lanka for this project. I wanted to do my studies in produce supply chains so I was looking for opportunities. One major reason I chose this is because it’s an industry project and there is the potential for real improvement from the perspective of the industry. 

“I was working in industry for five years, so I really wanted to go into a practical area of research where I could get a lot of industry exposure and tackle a real issue."

The University of Tasmania is great place. The people are so friendly and so helpful. It’s very easy to work with people and with industry, as it is a supportive environment.

Indika’s PhD is supported by the ARC Industrial Transformation Centre for Innovative Horticultural Products, which receives funding from the Australian Research Council's Industrial Transformation Training Centres scheme (IC140100024). 

His project is being carried out in partnership with Woolworths, the Costa Group as the industry partners. In March, Indika will relocate to Mulgrave in Melbourne to spend one year conducting his research within the industry.

Interested in doing your own research? Start a research degree at the University of Tasmania. Find out more here.