Variation of physicochemical characteristics of tomato under different traditional forms of conservation

Abstract

Tomato is a fruit rich in vitamins and minerals, contains vitamin C and flavonoids, which prevent heart disease, strokes, chickenpox and cancer. In the world, tomato is considered as one of the main popular fresh products. Inappropriate storage can cause high losses in quantity and quality. Storage mechanisms, as well as, conservation methods can play a significant role to reduce postharvest losses by maintaining products and ingredients in an environment that protects their integrity. Drying, curing and freezing are some methods of conservation. The study evaluated the physicochemical quality of tomato, variety CAL J, exposed to different conservation techniques and environment. This study used a 2x3 factorial design with 6 treatments: A, tomato stored at room temperature (25±1ºC) without acidification, B, acidified tomato (pH=3.2) stored at room temperature (25±1ºC), C, tomato stored in a refrigerator (8ºC) without acidification, D, acidified tomato (pH=3.2) stored in a refrigerator (8ºC), E, tomato stored in an underground silo (19±1ºC) without acidification and F, acidified tomato(pH=3.2) stored in an underground silo (19±1ºC). They were evaluated over 60 days, for moisture, titratable acidity soluble solids (ºBrix), and lycopene content. Data were analysed with R at the 95% confidence level. Moisture ranged from 29.7% to 82.8%, ºBrix 1.9 to 7.1, pH 3.17 to 4.02, titratable acidity 0.2 to 1.9% and lycopene 15.41 to 51.74 μg/g. All treatments of the tomatoes showed stability of its properties. The greatest conservation was with treatments A and B.