A recent study, “Contribution of Two Different Packaging Material to Microbial Contamination of Peaches: Implications in Their Microbiological Quality”, carried by Patrignani, Siroli, Gardini and Lanciotti from the Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences, University of Bologna (Cesena, Italy), concluded that the use of cardboard, compared to plastic, can significantly reduce the potential of microbial transferring from packaging to fruits.

The probabilistic and kinetic models used showed some higher microbiological qualities of peaches stored in cardboard boxes, independently on the independent variables considered. The best performances of cardboard, compared to plastic, was probably due to its capability to entrap microbial cells.

Source: Frontiers in Microbiology