Bruise Damage and Quality Changes in Impact-Bruised, Stored Tomatoes

Pankaj B Pathare,Mai Al-Dairi

doi:10.3390/horticulturae7050113

Abstract

This study examined three main possible effects (impact, storage temperature, and duration) that cause and extend the level of bruising and other quality attributes contributing to the deterioration of tomatoes. The impact threshold level required to cause bruising was conducted by subjecting tomato samples to a steel ball with a known mass from different drop heights (20, 40, and 60 cm). The samples were then divided and stored at 10 and 22 °C for 10 days for the further analysis of bruise area and any physiological, chemical, and nutritional changes at two day intervals. Six prediction models were constructed for the bruised area and other quality attribute changes of the tomato. Storage time, bruise area, weight loss, redness, total color change, color index, total soluble solids, and pigments content (lycopene and carotenoids) showed a significant (p < 0.05) increase with the increase of drop height (impact level) and storage temperature. After 10 days of storage, high drop impact and storage at 22 °C generated a higher reduction in firmness, lightness, yellowness, and hue° (color purity). Additionally, regression model findings showed the significant effect of storage duration, storage temperature, and drop height on the measured variables (bruise area, weight loss, firmness, redness, total soluble solids, and lycopene) at a 5% probability level with a determination coefficient (R2) ranging from 0.76 to 0.95. Bruising and other quality attributes could be reduced by reducing the temperature during storage. This study can help tomato transporters, handlers, and suppliers to understand the mechanism of bruising occurrence and how to reduce it.

Highlights

Tomato fruits are a significant component of many human diets and their quality is very important [1]
A higher bruise area (BA) was recorded on the tomatoes impacted from the high drop height stored at room temperature, with 344.95 mm2
The study investigated the contribution of different impact levels (20, 40, and 20 cm drop heights) on bruise area and the physical, chemical, and nutritional attributes of tomatoes stored at two different storage conditions over a 10 day storage period

Summary

Introduction

Tomato fruits are a significant component of many human diets and their quality is very important [1]. Fresh produce like the tomato is very susceptible to mechanical damage during harvesting, transporting, and packaging, and quality can be substantially decreased by poor handling [2]. Opara and Pathare [4] reviewed that bruising is the most common form of mechanical damage that occurrs during the harvesting-consumption system. Bruising is a type of failure in the subcutaneous tissue that occurs without rupture of the fresh produce skin. Based on the degree of damage, Sun et al [5] highlighted that the presence of bruises may take more than 12 h of incubation to become visible, which may not be recognized until the products reach consumers at the point of consumption. According to Opara and Pathare [4], bruising can occur due to excessive vibration and impact during dynamic loading. Xia et al [6] and Hussein et al [7] stated that dropping the product against another surface material is another cause of fresh produce bruising

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Conclusion