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Abstract
A modified 7/10-bushel (24,667-cm3) corrugated fiberboard citrus box was tested and compared with conventional boxes of the same style. It has a greater ventilation area than the conventional boxes, and all openings are in the top and bottom panels. The advantages of the modified box, as identified in this study, are as follows: (1) It was equally suitable for use in air- and tight-stack patterns used mostly in unitization. (2) In tight-stack patterns, greater airflows were obtainable through the modified box than the conventional boxes in simulated loads with a vertical airflow system. (3) Compression tests indicated that the modified box was equally as strong as the conventional boxes tested. (4) The modified box is especially suited for use in available conventional refrigerated trailers and the USDA van container, in which the cooled air is delivered to the bottom for circulation upward through a tightly stacked load. (5) Field heat could be removed much faster from citrus when the fruit was packed in the modified box and shipped in the USDA van container with vertical airflow than when shipped in conventional boxes in conventional refrigerated trailers.