Abstract

Author:
Bidhya Poudel Chhetri, Sudip Ghimire

Doi: 10.26480/sfna.01.2023.39.42

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License CC BY 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited

A well-known vegetable of the Solanaceae family that is grown all over the globe is the tomato (Solanum Lycopersicum). In Nepal, post-harvest tomato losses of up to 50% have been observed. This study examined the effects of several post-harvest procedures to lengthen the shelf life of tomatoes stored at room temperature. The experiment had a completely randomized design (CRD) and included six treatments that were repeated four times. The freshly picked tomato was waxed, given a hot water treatment, wrapped in low-density polyethylene, treated with calcium chloride, and then given a control treatment. Weight loss, shelf life, total soluble solids, and titratable acidity were the subjects of data collection. Analysis of data was done through Microsoft- Excel, R- Studio, and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). This study discovered that tomato fruit dipped in 8% CaCl2 had no positive impact on the fruit’s quality reserves or shelf life. The polyethylene wrapping of tomato fruits produced better results than all other treatments in terms of weight loss, maximum TSS content (3.880 Brix), titratable acidity, and maximum extension of the storage period of tomato fruits (25 days). As a result, it can be used to store light red tomato fruits for up to 25 days at room temperature.