Evaluation of Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill) Genotypes for Fruit Quality and Shelf Life

摘要

Soft fruit such as tomato has a very short post harvest shelf life. Accordingly, information and knowledge gaps on post-harvest handling, fruit quality and storability of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) aggravate the situation. Therefore, an experiment was conducted at Jimma University College of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine to evaluate the fruit quality and shelf life of nine tomato varieties. Major fruit physicochemical properties, including fruit weight, volume, juice, weight loss, total soluble solids content (TSS), acidity (TTA and pH), TSS/TTA ratio and sensory attributes, which were assessed at 7-day intervals during a 28-day storage period, were collected. There was an increasing trend in physiological weight loss observed during the study period, during which physiological weight loss was highest in ‘Eshet’, ‘Marglobe’ and ‘Jimma local’. Changes in TTA during storage were relatively small. The TTA content showed a decreasing pattern throughout the storage period. A general decreasing trend in fruits firmness and an increase in fruit color were observed among the varieties as the storage period progressed. Considering fruit quality and shelf life, variety ‘H-1350’ was better than all other varieties while ‘Eshet’, ‘Marglobe’ and ‘Jimma local’ were the poorest performers in almost all parameters.