Abstract
Tomato is highly perishable in nature and incurred high post-harvest losses due to unsuitable packaging method. Experimentation was undertaken to find the effect of different polymeric film packaging on postharvest quality of tomato var. Manisha in a completely randomized block design (CRD). There was five treatment viz. open, ordinary plastic, Polypropylene (PP38,) Low-Density Polyethylene (LDPE38) and 25) which was replicated four times. Destructive and non-destructive samples were prepared for each treatment, non-destructive samples were sealed completely and used for weight loss observation and destructive samples were tied with a rubber band and used for observation of Titratable Acidity (TA), Total Soluble Solid (TSS), pH and firmness every four days after packaging. Among the different packaging treatments, no packaging (open) showed the highest percentage of weight loss (13.25%), lowest firmness (3.35 kg), and highest TSS (4.33) at the final day of storage as compared to another plastic packaging. The plastic packaging creates a modified atmosphere for the packed tomatoes which slows down the physiological processes and delay ripening, causes minimum weight loss, delays a change in color, and lower TSS content of the tomato fruit. So, packing tomatoes in any type of plastic packs is suitable for increasing shelf life.
Highlights
Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) is one of the most widely grown horticultural commodities in the world belonging to the family Solanaceae
Rubber band was used to seal the mouth of polythene to restrict the air exchange only from the holes made. 4 holes of 4mm diameter in each plastic package were made with a heated wall nail in order to facilitate air exchange
It is presumed that the Packaging affected decidedly the tomato quality
Summary
Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) is one of the most widely grown horticultural commodities in the world belonging to the family Solanaceae. Tomatoes are the god source of vitamin C and its constituent: a pigment Lycopene has antioxidant and anti-carcinogenic benefits (Sumner et al, 2010). Tomato being climacteric and highly perishable commodities proper time of harvesting and post-harvest handling determines its storage longevity (Gautam and Khatiwada, 2004). Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP) is a viable option for increasing the shelf life of a commodity and is gaining popularity in many countries. It is a cheaper storage practice and can be practiced by farmers of developing countries. The farmers having low investment capacity can be benefitted by MAP storage practices (Kader, 1983)
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