Abstract
Two maturity stages of commercially grown tomatoes (breaker and mature green) were exposed to ethanol vapour (2 ml ethanol kg−1 fruit) for 6 h at 20 °C prior to storage at 5 °C and 20 °C. During storage the colour, firmness and composition changes were examined every 3 and 7 days. The results showed that ethanol vapour treatment could significantly slow down the colour changes and softening of both mature green and breaker tomatoes with greater effects when stored at 5 °C. There was no difference between the two maturity stages in retardation of softening during storage; in contrast the maturity stage had a highly significant effect in the colour development of stored tomatoes. When the fruit stored at 5 °C was then held at 20 °C for 7 days the ripening process was accelerated but the fruit did not reach the same level of colour development as the fruit stored at 20 °C continuously. The results suggest that ethanol vapour pretreatment could be used as a cheap and easy method to extend the storage life of tomatoes. © 1999 Society of Chemical Industry
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