Effect Of Different Temperature, Package And Extrusion Treatment On Quality Of Postharvest Tomato Fruits

The tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.), a kind of berry fruits, is rich in nutrient, besides, it is also a kind of typical respiratory climacteric fruits, which means postharvest tomato is easily ripped, damaged and infected. Therefore, research postharvest tomato storage and preservation technology is extremely significance to keep tomato quality, extend storage of products and reduce loss during the transport. So we investigated the effect of different temperature, package and extrusion treatment on the physiological indices in"Grey"and"Cherry"tomatoes, in order to research the quality of postharvest tomato fruits. The physiological indices included weight loss rate, appearance content (fruit color and calyx) and nutritive value contents, such as lycopene and ascorbic acid (AsA).Comparing with control (25℃, room temperature), treatments of"Grey"tomato and"Cherry"tomato at 5℃and 12℃, both of treatments reduced change of weight loss rate and retarded changes of color, lightness and lycopene. In addition, they also postponed change of"Cherry"tomato's AsA content. These data showed that l hypothermia treatments were effective in alleviating the progress of senescence and nutrition loss, moreover, 5℃treatment was better than 12℃treatment.Comparing with unpackaged package, perforated polythene and airtight polythene package treatment alleviated"Grey"tomato weight loss rate, postponed change in lycopene and retarded change in color. But the package treatment had little change in lightness and AsA content. In addition, perforated polythene package on"Cherry"tomato had little change in color and lightness, but it also controlled the changes of weight loss and AsA content. Airtight polythene package on"Cherry"tomato had same effect on weight loss, AsA content and lightness, but the airtight polythene package also accelerated change in color. Perforated polythene and airtight polythene package treatment were effective in preservation, but the quality characteristics of two kinds of tomatoes are different.External extrusion treatment of"Grey"and"Cherry"tomato species accelerated weight loss, hastened change of color and lightness. And it also accelerated loss of lycopene and AsA. These results indicated that the mild extrusion treatment wasn't applicable for tomato storage because the treatment had already accelerated the progress of senescence and reduced nutrition value.