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The export of New Zealand tomatoes is restricted to Australia and Pacific Island nations and constrained by the cost and shortage of airfreight space. The industry does not have a consistent commercial solution to enable sea freight to the Asian market. A potent inhibitor of ethylene response, 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) has emerged as a tool for controlling ripening and extending the shelf life of many fresh products. Knowledge of 1-MCP effects on cool-stored fresh tomatoes is limited. In the present study, mature-green and breaker tomatoes treated with 1-MCP were stored at 2.5°C for 5 weeks. At this temperature, 1-MCP treatment enhanced Alternaria decay severity (from latent infections) and resulted in softer fruit than non-treated controls, whereas 1-MCP reduced decay from 'ripe rots' when fruit were ripened at 20°C. These results suggest that the ripening delay induced by 1-MCP may increase tomato chilling sensitivity during cool storage. While 1-MCP shows promising results in extending postharvest storage life in many crops, including tomatoes, these results indicated that application of 1-MCP before cool storage is not appropriate for assisting commercial sea freight of tomatoes. Nonetheless, it may be possible to apply 1-MCP and then store tomatoes above the temperatures that cause chilling injury in order to extend storage life.