The work aims to study the effect of subcritical loads on the change of respiratory rate of the apples. Firstly, the apple drop tests at different heights below the critical drop height were set up. Then, the change in the concentration of CO2 and O2 of the dropped apple in the airtight container was measured. Finally, the relationship between the drop height and the respiratory rate was obtained on the basis of the experimental data. The respiratory rate of the apple had changed greatly after the impact damage. The higher the drop height was, the less the O2 was, the more CO2 was in an airtight container and the greater the respiratory rate was in the same period of time. With the increase of drop height, the oxygen loss rate was becoming more and greater, and so was the carbon dioxide increase rate. With the increase of time, the apple's respiratory rate gradually decreased at the same drop height, and then tended to be stable after a period of time. The mathematical model for the respiratory rate and the drop height and time under the subcritical load was established according to the experimental data. The research results are conducive to the improvement of the fruit cushion packaging.