Volume 6 | Issue -14
Volume 6 | Issue -14
Volume 6 | Issue -14
Volume 6 | Issue -14
Volume 6 | Issue -14
The shelf life of fresh tomatoes (climateric fruit) is short and this leads to post-harvest losses during periods of abundance. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of lemon (fruit not climateric) on tomato shelf life. To this end, healthy fruit of two tomato varieties (Cobra and Amiral) harvested at the mature green stage were conserved with lemons (0; 5; 10; 15 and 20) also harvested at the mature green stage in a split-plot design with four replicates. The number of tomatoes in each storage chamber was 20 fruits. During one month storage, the physical and biochemical parameters of the tomato fruits and the concentrations of CO2, O2 and C2H2 in the storage chambers were assessed and quantified respectively. The results show that Cobra fruits coupled with 5 lemons recorded the lowest loss rates in tomato number (20%) and mass (0.04%), and the highest lycopene (2.5 mg/100g), vitamin (14.3 mg/100g), protein (0.8%), lipid (0.26%) and acidity (5.75%) contents. Respiratory quotients and intensities in storage chambers with 5 lemons were the lowest. At the end of this study, tomato storage was possible for three weeks if these green tomatoes were stored with a quantity of mature lime equal to 25% of the number of tomatoes to be conserved.