Development of Post-Harvest Treatment for Extending the Shelf Life of Ripe Tomato

Abstract

The trial considered three (3) grades of ripe tomatoes categorized into large (235 g), medium (135 g) and small (30 g) apportioned to four post-harvest treatments: Hot Water Treatment (HWT), Fungicide (benomyl) Treatment, Acetone Absorber (AET) Treatment as well as (untreated) the control. The study materials were kept at ambient temperature in the laboratory after imposition of the treatment. Absolute weight loss progressively increases as tomato size increases; with the least weight loss witnessed in Small-sized tomatoes and the highest weight loss observed in Large-sized tomatoes. By the ninth day of the trial, the trend of increasing weight loss with storage became more pronounced across fruit size and post-harvest treatments. Over the duration of the experiment untreated tomatoes consistently exhibited the highest percentage weight loss compared with HWT and AET, with post-harvest treatments applied showing varying consistent storability superiority over the control, thus stressing the necessity for post-harvest treatment in tomato fruits so as to enhance fruit shelf life. At the termination of the trial, untreated small-sized fruits lost 7.1 % of their weight, while small-sized fruits treated to AET retained 96.4 % of their initial weight. Small-sized fruits treated to FT retained 94.8 % of their weight, while small-sized tomato subjected to HWT retained 95.5 % weight. Similarly, among medium-sized tomato fruits untreated fruits consistently recorded the highest weight loss. In contrast to the observed trend in small-sized fruits, fungicide (FT) treated fruits consistently recorded the lowest reduction in weight, followed by acetone (AET) treated fruits. Among large-sized tomato fruits, untreated fruits consistently exhibited the highest weight loss while fruits subjected to hot water treatment (HWT) recorded the lowest weight loss. Ultimately, the research validates the use of simple accessible post-harvest technologies as a viable strategy to reduce post-harvest losses, thereby enhancing food security and improving economic outcomes among tomato farmers in the study area. AET was gave the most consistent outcome in the trial compared with HWT. The methods studied present practical solutions to reduce spoilage and extend the shelf life of tomatoes.