Pinewood is used for assembling the "K" box, a standard crate for packing, transporting and trading vegetables in Brazil. An estimate was made of water absorption and water loss by pinewood and the growth of fungi on its surface was determined under different RH conditions. Thirty pieces of pinewood (52 x 6 x 0.6 cm) were individually weighed, immersed in tap water during 1 hour and then weighed again to measure the water absorption. Ten pieces of pinewood of those previously immersed in water were kept at random in humid chambers (61%, 86% and 94% RH) maintained at 25ºC (±2ºC). Water loss was estimated daily by weighing individually each wood piece and fungi development was recorded by a fungi growth scale (0=no growth; 3=>growth in 51% of the wood area), respectively. The pinewood can take up to 38% of its weight of water, and remain humid for a period of time enough to proliferate fungi in this surface. As expected, the relative humidity affected the daily rate of water loss, reaching 4.7%/day, 2.5%/day and 1.0%/day respectively at 61% RH, 86% RH and 94% RH. After eight days, the pinewood water loss reached 37.5% at 61% RH, 19.9% at 86% RH and 7.9% at 94% RH. The predominant fungi growing on the wood surface were Trichoderma harzianum and Rhizopus stolonifer, but small colonies of Aspergillus sp. and Penicillium sp. were also identified. To avoid the water absorption by the pinewood, washed vegetables should be properly dried before packing or to waterproof the wood.
packing; wooden crates; postharvest
