Abstract
The effect of ethylene on biochemical composition and antioxidant activity in beefsteak, heirloom and cluster type of tomatoes were determined. For that purpose, tomato fruit were harvested at breaker maturity stage and divided into two groups one of which was applied with 150 μL L−1 ethylene while another remained untreated. Ethylene treated and untreated control fruit were stored at 12 °C and 90+5% relative humidity for 35 days with subsamples removed every 7 days for quality analysis. After each removal time, fruit were kept at 20 °C for additional 3 days to determine shelf life performance. Ethylene treatment enhanced the breakdown of total chlorophyll and accumulation of lycopene and carotenoid contents. At the end of cold storage and shelf life period, the maximum antioxidant activity, carotenoid and flavonoid contents were recorded in ethylene treated heirloom type tomatoes. It can be concluded that ethylene treated heirloom type tomatoes exhibited maximal postharvest quality as compared to beefsteak and cluster type of tomato in term of biochemical composition and antioxidant activity after 35 days of cold storage and shelf life.
Highlights
The effect of ethylene on biochemical composition and antioxidant activity in beefsteak, heirloom and cluster type of tomatoes were determined
There were no significant differences between ethylene treated heirloom and cluster type of tomatoes by the end of cold storage
There were no significant differences between heirloom and cluster type of tomatoes at the end of shelf life period
Summary
Tomatoes are vital part of human nutrition around the world. Scientific studies have shown that tomatoes contain high amount of carotenoid, antioxidant, lycopene and are associated with dietary intake that reduces the risk of chronic diseases, cancer, osteoporosis and cardiovascular diseases in humans (Rao et al 1998; Frusciante et al 2007; Bhowmik et al 2012). The presence of carotenoids, especially lycopene, ascorbic acid, vitamin E, phenolic compounds and different antioxidant properties in tomatoes affect the human health (Frusciante et al 2007; Bhowmik et al 2012). The higher antioxidant activity of tomato could mitigate the effect of ethylene as ripening process involved series of physiological and biochemical changes in which antioxidant properties play fundamental role (Jimenez et al 2002). The assessment of the effects of different tomato varieties on the synthesis of carotenoid and other phenolic compounds are important to enhance the concentration of these antioxidant compounds. The increasing economic importance of tomato throughout the world as a functional food have necessitated to find out the effect of ethylene on the biochemical composition and antioxidant capacity of different types of tomato and this experiment was conducted
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