Abstract

Ambode Benjamin, Steve W. E and Bankole D. S

Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill) is one of the most important vegetable crops cultivated all over the world for its fleshy fruits. In this work, the influence of various post harvest treatments and storage conditions on the various physico-chemical changes associated with tomatoes was investigated. The treatments consisted of sodium metabisulphite, calcium chloride dip, citric acid dip, lemon juice dip, Shea butter coating, hot water dip treatments kept in two storage conditions, viz., ambient and cold storage. The storage spans over 28 days. Significant differences were observed among the physico-chemical parameters due to various post harvest treatments and storage conditions. The physiological loss in weight (PLW) was less under cold storage as compared to ambient storage in all the treatments. The PLW was lowest in sodium metabisulphite dip (SMB 0.73) which was significantly lower over all other treatments under both cold (0.31) and ambient (1.15) storage conditions. There were no significant differences in pH between the post-harvest treatments and the storage conditions both at 7 and 14 days of storage. A similar trend was observed at 21 and 28 days of storage. Total soluble solids (TSS) was lowest in sodium metabisulphite dip (SMB 4.14) which was at par with CaCl2 (4.17) at 7 days of storage. Among the storage conditions, no significant differences were observed at both 7 and 14 days of storage. Significant low titratable acidity was recorded in control fruits at 21 and 28. Among the post-harvest treatments, Sodium metabisulphite dip (SMB) recorded significantly higher ascorbic acid content (31.4) at 7 days and 14 days (27.3).