Preharvest Foliar Spray of Calcium Chloride on Growth, Yield, Quality, and Shelf Life Extension of Different Lowland Tomato Varieties in Malaysia

Mohammad Nurun Nabi Mazumder,Puteri Edaroyati Megat Wahab,Phebe Ding,Azhar Mohamad,Azizah Misran

doi:10.3390/horticulturae7110466

Mohammad Nurun Nabi Mazumder, Puteri Edaroyati Megat Wahab + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae7110466

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Abstract

Tomato is a popularly consumed vegetable fruit and suffers from huge losses due to its high perishability. Calcium chloride (CaCl2∙2H2O) application has been shown to be an important method that can extend the shelf life of tomato fruits. The current study aimed to determine the effect of pre-harvest treatments of CaCl2 on the growth, yield, quality, and shelf-life performance of tomato varieties. Four tomato varieties known as MT-1, MT-3, 303, and 105 were sprayed with the CaCl2 solutions (0.0%, 1.0%, 1.5%, and 2.0%, w/v) after seven days of fruit initiation and were sprayed every week until the first harvest. Spraying with 2% of CaCl2 showed an improvement in controlling physiological disorders such as blossom end rot (BER), weight loss, declined disease incidence, and disease severity. An increase in fruit quality was also observed as the treated fruit could maintain its shelf life up to 20 days at ambient conditions. At the highest doses of CaCl2 (2%), it increased the total ascorbic acid (AA), lycopene content, total phenolic content (TPC), and antioxidant activity (DPPH) in comparison to lower doses and control tomatoes. MT-3 responded well to higher doses of CaCl2 (2%) among the four tomato varieties and performed better in growth, yield, disease, insect infestation, quality, and shelf-life performance compared to the other varieties and CaCl2 treatment combination.

Highlights

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is a member of the nightshade family, commonly cultivated and extensively consumed among the Solanaceae family crops [1]
There were no interaction effects between the two factors, significant differences were observed in different varieties of tomato on the number of branches, flower at days after transplanting (DAT), number of fruits, fruit weight, and total fruit yield
The number of branches of variety MT-1 and MT-3 were significantly higher compared to other varieties

Summary

Introduction

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is a member of the nightshade family, commonly cultivated and extensively consumed among the Solanaceae family crops [1]. Despite the numerous benefits of tomatoes, many factors such as variety, high temperature, moisture condition, high rate of respiration, and ethylene production as well as physical injuries cause postharvest losses as high as 25–42% globally [5]. These include the high amount of quantitative and qualitative losses, resulting in minimum returns to growers, processors, traders, and the whole country suffers in terms of foreign exchange [6]. The postharvest qualities of tomatoes depend on many pre-and post-harvest factors such as the genetic, environmental factors, management practices, harvesting, and handlings methods during and after harvest [2]

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