This study was conducted with the aim of investigating the role of ventilation in reducing the spoilage of fresh pistachios during transportation from orchard to the terminal. Pistachio prepared from Ahmad Aghaei variety (10 kg) were stored in two different conditions with a plastic mesh basket (with ventilation) and a non-mesh plastic basket (without ventilation). The changes in temperature, humidity, weight loss, the amount of mold and fungus were investigated during 4 days of storage of pistachio samples. Also, the sensory evaluation of the samples (in terms of color, appearance, taste and flavor) was done by the evaluators using QDA* method. The results of this research showed that all the selected parameters of the two treatments during 4 days (including temperature, humidity and weight loss, the amount of mold and fungus), have a significant difference (p ≤ 0.05).
highest temperature during 4 days related to the non-mesh basket was 21°C on the fourth day and the lowest temperature was 16.9°C in the mesh basket on the second day. The highest weight loss was observed in the mesh basket on the fourth day of storage. on the fourth day of storage, the number of fungi and mold was 326.5 and 320 in the mesh basket and 650 and 675.5 in the non-mesh basket, respectively. The score of sensory features of the mesh basket in terms of appearance (8), taste (10.9), color (11.7), texture (9.9) and smell (10.6), was significantly better than non-mesh basket (respectively 6.4, 8.7, 8.9, 8.3 and 9.1) (p≤0.05).