Impact of Modified Atmosphere Packaging and Controlled Atmosphere Applications on ‘Seval F1’ Tomato Fruit Quality and Marketability

Abstract

This study was carried out at the Postharvest Physiology Laboratory of the Department of Horticulture of Isparta University of Applied Sciences with the ‘Seval F1’ table tomato variety. Tomato fruits are stored in normal atmospheric storage (NA), modified atmosphere packages (MAPs) (MAP1 and MAP2) and in controlled atmosphere (CA) cabinets (5% O2+5% CO2) at 12±1°C temperature and 90% ± 5 relative humidity (RH) conditions. After removing the fruits from cold storage at each analysis period they were kept at room conditions for 2 days for shelf life evaluation. Weight loss, peel color, fruit firmness, soluble solids content, pH, titratable acidity, respiration rate (RR), ethylene production (EP), MAPs’ gas composition and sensorial analyzes were carried out for fruits taken randomly from cold storage and subsequent 2 days in shelf life conditions. According to the mean values, CA and MAPs maintained fruit firmness better than NA. The lowest RR (11.3 mLCO2 kg -1 h -1) was recorded in NA followed by MAP1 (13.2 mLCO2 kg -1 h -1). EP values of NA and CA were closer to each other’s and lower than those of the others (2.7 and 2.8 µL.kg-1h-1, respectively). CA had the highest taste-aroma value at 25+2 days of storage, followed by MAP1 and NA. The highest O2 (18.98 %) and the lowest CO2 (2.90 %) values were recorded in MAP1. In conclusion, CA and MAP1 storage conditions successfully extended the postharvest life of ‘Seval F1’ tomato fruits and maintained their marketable quality for 25+2 days.