The utilization of four types of biomass particles, including hardwood (poplar), softwood (radiata pine), crop (wheat straw) and bamboo (moso bamboo), as reinforcing fillers in preparing high density polyethylene (HDPE) based composites was studied. To improve interfacial compatibility, maleic anhydride grafted polyethylene (MAPE) was applied as the coupling agent. The effects of the biomass species on the mechanical and water absorption properties of the resulting composites were evaluated based on chemical composition analysis. A creep-recovery test was conducted in single cantilever mode using a dynamic mechanical analyzer. Results show that the four types of biomass particles had similar chemical compositions but different composition contents. Poplar particles with high cellulose content loading in the HDPE matrix exhibited higher tensile and flexure properties and creep resistance. Fracture morphology analysis indicated a weak particle-matrix interface in wheat straw based composites. Given the high crystallinity and minimum hemicellulose content, the moso bamboo reinforced composite showed high impact strength and better water resistance.

Postharvest vegetables are still undergoing metabolic processes primarily through respiration. Although modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) can extend the shelf life of vegetables, it is of great significance to accurately predict the shelf life of vegetables for the quality assurance. In this study, the modified atmosphere packaged spinach and Chinese chives were stored at 0, 5, 10, 15, and 20°C, and Pseudomonas spp. count was determined regularly. The modified Gompertz model was used as the primary model to construct the model of Pseudomonas spp. growth kinetics in spinach and Chinese chives at different temperatures. On the basis of the primary model, the Belehradek (square root) model was selected as the secondary model to explore the influence of temperature on maximum specific growth rate ( μ _max ) and lag period ( λ ). Finally, the shelf life prediction model of spinach and Chinese chives was established and verified. From the results, the growth of Pseudomonas spp. showed an S‐shaped curve at different storage temperatures. With the increase of storage temperature, μ _max of microorganisms increased and λ decreased. The modified Gompertz model can describe the growth dynamics of Pseudomonas spp. well, and μ _max ^0.5 and (λ ^‐1 ) ^0.5 have a good linear relationship with storage temperature. The accuracy of the shelf life prediction model was verified by measuring the growth state of Pseudomonas spp. in modified atmosphere packaged spinach and Chinese chives at the storage temperature of 8°C. The results showed that the relative error between the predicted value and the measured value was 2.39% for spinach and 0.43% for Chinese chives, respectively, indicating that the shelf life prediction model could effectively predict the shelf life of spinach and Chinese chives at the storage temperature range of 0°C–20°C.