Effect of different precooling techniques on the storage behavior of tomato fruits at low and ambient temperatures

Abstract

A comparative study was carried out to determine the efficacy of different precooling treatments at three different cooling media temperatures on the shelf life of tomato fruit (cv. Narendra-2) when stored under low (13°C) and ambient temperature. The precooling with chilled water dipping took least time (<0.33 h) compared to hydrocooling (<0.41 h) and forced air cooling (<1.45 h) to remove field heat of tomato fruit. The maximum increase in shelf life up to 18 days was observed for treated fruit as compared to control under low temperature storage. For samples treated at 4°C, forced air cooling had a maximum shelf life of 27 days under ambient storage compared to control (18 days). The stored samples were periodically analyzed for various physico-chemical parameters. After 12 days storage maximum physiological loss in weight 7.68%, spoilage 31.08%, firmness 468.64 N, total soluble solids 4.4%, titratable acidity 0.37% and lycopene content 4.20 mg/100g was observed.