Abstract:
Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) is one of the most economically important fruit
vegetable facing greater problems in storage because of its perishable nature and reduction of
quality. They are susceptible to various microbial infections, both pre- and postharvest. The
present research was conducted to investigate the effects of postharvest treatments with citric
(2%), benzoic (0.2%) and sorbic (0.2%) acids on physicochemical, biochemical and
microbiological evolution of fresh tomatoes. Samples were evaluated initially at 3-day interval
for maintained better quality in terms of water loss, titratable acidity (TA), total soluble solids
(TSS), pH, lycopene, ascorbic acid content, and surface microbial load for two weeks storage
time. Chemical treatments significantly reduced the microbial growth on the fruit surface
throughout the storage period as compared to the control samples, but they caused a significant
increase in moisture loss (sorbic acid > citric acid > benzoic acid > water). Antimicrobial effects
of chemical treatments were more noticeable than their biochemical effects. The total titratable
acidity, total ascorbic acid content and total lycopene content of fruits increased continuously in
the first 9 days of storage but decreased thereafter. At the end of the storage period, the citric
acid treated tomatoes had significantly higher titratable acidity, ascorbic acid and lycopene
activity as compared with the control samples. Sorbic acid which allowed only the growth of the
Rhizopus mold during two weeks of room temperature storage compere to other organic acids.
However, at the end of the storage period, samples treated with citric acid is the best
preservatives as compared with control samples.
Description:
A Thesis
Submitted to the Faculty of Agriculture,
Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka,
In Partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of
MASTER OF SCIENCE
IN
HORTICULTURE
