Evaluation Of Critical Points Of Impact On Citrus Sorting Lines In The State Of São Paulo [pontos Críticos De Impacto Em Linhas De Beneficiamento Utilizadas Para Citros No Estado De São Paulo]

The Brazilian citrus chain is one of the leaders on the export process. Mechanical injury is one important factor that should be minimized on this chain, in order to reduce and decrease postharvest losses due to no appropriate handling. On this work, critical points of impact were evaluated in imported and national equipments used for sorting citrus. The instrumented sphere, 70mm, (Techmark Inc., Lansing, EUA) was used for this evaluation, mesuring the magnitude of impact (G, m/s2) on transfer points in sorting lines of oranges and lemon. The instrumented sphere was placed together with the fruits in the receiving stage working in its regular daily capacity, following the normal flow until the stage of classification. The results showed that the critical points of impact were at the receiving step and also on the transfer point into the containers for storage. The magnitude of impact was significantly reduced when cushioned surfaces were used on different transfer points.283523525AGRIANUAL 2005: anuário da agricultura brasileira. São Paulo: FNP Consultoria & Comércio, 2004. p.287- 311CONAB- Companhia, Nacional de Abastecimento (2005) Indicadores da agropecuária, , http://www.conab.gov.br/ download/indicadores/pubindicadores.pdf, Disponível em:, Acesso em: fevFERREIRA, M.D., FERRAZ, A.C.O., FRANCO, A.T.O., Tomato packing lines studies with an instrumented sphere in Brazil (2005) Acta Horticulturae, 3, pp. 1753-1755. , Leuven, vMILLER, W.M., WAGNER, C., Florida citrus packing line studies with an instrumented sphere (1991) Applied Engineering in Agriculture, 7 (5), pp. 577-581. , St. Joseph, v(2001) Horticulture: Mechanical Injury, , http://www.sardi. sa.gov.au/pages/horticulture/ citrus/hort_citp_postinjury.htm:sectID= 306&tempID=99, SARDI, South Australian Research and Development Institute, Disponível em: .Acesso em, fevSARGENT, S.A., BRECHT, J.K., ZOELLNER, J.J., Sensitivity of tomatoes at mature-green and breaker ripeness stages to internal bruising. Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science (1992) Alexandria, 117 (1), pp. 119-123SKARIA, M., EAYRE, C.G., MIAO, H., SOLIS-GRACIA, N., MACKEY, B., Effect of packing on rot and fruit damage in Rio Red Grapefruit (2003) Subtropical Plant Science, 55, pp. 75-78. , Edinburg, vTIMM, E.J., BROWN, G.K., Impacts recorded on avocado, papaya, and pineapple packing lines (1991) Applied Engineering in Agriculture, 7 (4), pp. 418-422. , St. Joseph, vVIGNEAULT, C., BORDINI, M.R., ABRAHÃO, R.F., Embalagem para frutas e hortaliças (2002) Resfriamento de frutas e hortaliças, pp. 96-121. , CORTEZ, L.A.B, HONÓRIO, S.L, MORETTI, C.L, Ed, Brasília: EMBRAP