Application of Postharvest Treatments to Alleviates Chilling Injury and Maintains Quality of Cherry Tomatoesduring Cold Storage

Abstract

This study was carried out during 2022 and 2023 seasons on cherry tomatoes cv. Katalina-522 to study the effect of dipping fruits in a solution of arginine (AG) at 0.5 mM for 10 min, glycine betaine (GB) at 30 mM for 10 min, salicylic acid (SA) at 2 mM for 5 min, and sodium nitroprusside (SNPa nitric oxide (NO) donor) at 2 mM for 30 min and then sealed in polypropylene film,active modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) at 5% O2 + 5% CO2 or 5% O2 + 8% CO2 and passive MAP in addition to untreated fruits (control) during storage at 5°C for 20 days plus 2 days at 20°C (shelf life) on alleviatingchilling injury and maintaining fruit quality attributes. Results indicated that cherry tomato fruits treated with all postharvest treatments were effective in reducing weight loss, loss of firmness, chilling injury, color change and modifying the atmosphere inside the package, as well as maintaining ascorbic acid, total phenolic content, antioxidant activity and the overall appearance of fruits during all storage periods plus shelf life as compared with untreated control. Samples treated with SA, SNP and GB appeared without any symptoms of chilling injury till the end of storage, while active MAP at 5% O2 + 5% CO2 and arginine treatments delayed the beginning of chilling injury and recorded a slight score at the end of storage. Furthermore, SA was the most effective treatment in preserving all the qualityattributes of fruits and gave an excellent appearance of fruits for 20 days at 5°C plus 2 days at 20°C, while SNP and GB treatments gave a good appearance at the same period.