Tomato Fruit Quality as Affected by Ergonomic Conditions While Manually Harvested

Łukasz Kuta (), Piotr Komarnicki (), Katarzyna Łakoma and Joanna Praska
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Łukasz Kuta: Institute of Environmental Protection and Development, The Faculty of Environmental Engineering and Geodesy, Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences, 50-375 Wrocław, Poland
Piotr Komarnicki: Institute of Agriculture Engineering, The Faculty of Life Sciences and Technology, Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences, 50-375 Wrocław, Poland
Katarzyna Łakoma: Institute of Agriculture Engineering, The Faculty of Life Sciences and Technology, Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences, 50-375 Wrocław, Poland
Joanna Praska: Institute of Environmental Protection and Development, The Faculty of Environmental Engineering and Geodesy, Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences, 50-375 Wrocław, Poland

Agriculture, 2023, vol. 13, issue 9, 1-18

Abstract: The harvest phase plays an important role in the whole process of production of tomato fruit. Therefore, it is necessary to ensure a technological process that will not damage biological materials. The harvest phase plays an important role in the whole process. Many growers use special machines for harvesting, but there are fruits and vegetables that should be harvested manually to avoid damaging the surface or parenchyma tissue of the harvested objects. In addition to maintaining the quality of biological materials, work comfort, and ergonomic conditions for pickers should be ensured because inadequate working conditions do not encourage employees to undertake manual work in horticulture. Therefore, there have been shortages of workers on Polish plantations in the past year. Based on manual tomato harvesting, the authors conducted a matched qualitative research study on biological materials and work ergonomics. For this purpose, the Grip System was used to investigate tomato quality by assessing the impact of picking hand pressure (in three different picker’s body positions) on the harvested objects. Simultaneously, for the picker’s ergonomic analysis, a non-invasive surface electromyography method was used to precisely measure changes in muscle motor unit action in the picker’s wrist and lumbar spine while in three characteristic picker’s positions. The tests found that the poorest body position was when the body was deeply inclined and simultaneously twisted. No significant effect was shown of the body position of the tomato picker on the deterioration of the picked fruit quality. However, body positions significantly affect the level of physical load and work comfort.

Keywords: tomato quality; harvest; surface pressure; muscle tension; EMG (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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