Postharvest loss of okra is caused by its high respiration rate and temperature fluctuations in the supply chain. To address this, five thermal insulation boxes were designed, combining different materials, and evaluated for okra quality during simulated transportation and storage. The treatments included the standard foam box, metalized foam sheet (two layers consisting of aluminum foil and expanded polyethylene), prototype-A (three layers consisting of dual layer of aluminum foil and expanded polyethylene), prototype-B (four layers consisting of aluminum foil, nonwoven, expanded polyethylene, and aluminum foil), and standard regular slotted container. Material tests revealed that aluminum foil and expanded polyethylene had the lowest thermal heat energy. The composite sandwich box design, prototype-A, demonstrated the highest maximum insulation time of 28 h and thermal resistance of 0.332 m°C/W. Prototype-A and prototype-B effectively maintained low temperature fluctuation, minimized air and okra temperature changes, and maintained 6.19 to 8.25 % CO, which was within an acceptable range of 4–10 % for okra. Both prototypes exhibited reduced percentage mass loss in okra below 5 %. Importantly, both prototypes demonstrated the lowest incidence of okra pod surface browning and maintained the quality for 6 d, surpassing metalized foam sheet and standard regular slotted container. These findings offer sandwich design with 3 or 4 layers as promising alternatives for thermal insulation boxes in cold chain management, enhancing the transport packaging of okra under ambient environments compared to the standard foam box.

中文翻译：

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保温箱设计，保持秋葵凉爽温度和采后品质

秋葵采后损失是由其高呼吸率和供应链中的温度波动造成的。为了解决这个问题，设计了五个隔热箱，结合不同的材料，并在模拟运输和储存过程中评估秋葵的质量。处理包括标准泡沫箱、金属化泡沫板（由铝箔和发泡聚乙烯组成的两层）、原型-A（由双层铝箔和发泡聚乙烯组成的三层）、原型-B（由铝箔和发泡聚乙烯组成的四层）铝箔、无纺布、发泡聚乙烯和铝箔），以及标准的常规开槽容器。材料测试表明，铝箔和发泡聚乙烯的热能最低。复合材料夹层盒设计原型 A 展示了 28 小时的最高保温时间和 0.332 m°C/W 的热阻。原型 A 和原型 B 有效地保持了较低的温度波动，最大限度地减少了空气和秋葵的温度变化，并保持了 6.19% 至 8.25% 的 CO2，这在秋葵可接受的 4% 至 10% 的范围内。两种原型的秋葵质量损失百分比均降低至 5% 以下。重要的是，这两种原型都表现出最低的秋葵荚表面褐变发生率，并且质量保持了 6 天，超过了金属化泡沫板和标准的常规开槽容器。这些发现提供了 3 层或 4 层夹层设计作为冷链管理中隔热箱的有前途的替代品，与标准泡沫箱相比，增强了秋葵在周围环境下的运输包装。