The Effect of Greenhouse Cucumber Storage Methods on Mechanical Properties and Critical Bending

In the present research, the effect of packaging as the first factor with four levels without packaging or control, cellophane, metallized transparent envelope and nano plastic and storage time as the second factor including levels of the first, second, third and fourth week on some mechanical properties including the breaking force, deformation, stiffness, breaking energy and critical bending of cucumber were investigated and determined in the form of a factorial experiment based on a completely random design. Excessive spoilage and softening of control samples caused them to be removed in the third and fourth weeks during the experiments. The results showed that the type of packaging was significant only on critical bending at the level of 5% and had no effect on other parameters.  The interaction effect of packaging type and storage time on the parameters of rupture force, displacement, stiffness, rupture energy and critical bending of cucumber had different results. The lowest critical bending value (0.435 cm-1) and the highest stiffness value (0.18 N/mm) at the end of the fourth week were related to the metallized package samples. In addition, the results showed that the method of packaging in a metallized transparent envelope can preserve the quality of the product and increase the shelf life compared to other tested methods.