Integral evaluation for intermittent cold storage of apples by using mathematical modeling

Abstract This study proposes an integrated approach to evaluate the efficiency of intermittent warming (IW) on cooling rate, uniformity, energy efficiency, mass loss, and the development of CIs by combining experiment and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling. The results show that the cooling homogeneity and mass loss increases with increasing the warming duration and frequency, although the incidence of chilling injuries (CIs) and energy consumption decrease under these conditions. Near the bottom of the pallet, CIs increased and mass loss decreased because of the higher cooling rate of fruit in this zone. The accuracy of the CFD simulations was confirmed by a good agreement with experiments. The root‐mean‐square error and mean absolute percentage error for fruit temperature were 0.879°C and 21.42%, respectively. Practical applications Reducing energy consumption and chilling injuries (CIs) is vital for improving the overall economic benefits of the cold chain and maintaining poststorage quality in fresh fruit. This research provides a reliable theoretical and experimental basis for improving the efficacy of IW and for ensuring optimum IW treatment and thereby minimizing energy consumption and CIs during fruit storage.