Effect of Organic Preservatives on Postharvest Shelf Life and Quality of Tomato Fruits during Storage

Abstract

Effect of organic preservatives on postharvest shelf life and quality of tomato fruits during storage was carried out. Healthy tomato fruits of three varieties Roma, Riogrande and UTC were obtained from the experimental farm at breaker stage. They were coated with Moringa, Neem and bitterleaf powders and stored at room temperature. Variety 3 (V3) produced significantly higher beta carotene content (0.182) than variety 1 (V1) (0.135) and variety 2 (V2) (0.127) on days 1 and 17 (0.205), (0.153) and (0.124). V2 produced significantly higher beta carotene value on days 21 (0.191) and 25 (0.233). Bitterleaf produced significantly higher beta -carotene content on days 1 (0.209), 5 (0.259) and 25 (0.191). No significant difference in firmness was observed within the varieties across the days. Moringa produced the lowest firmness value (2.917) on day 5 while control gave the lowest firmness value on days 13 (2.349), 17 (2.006), 21(1.273) and 25 (0.326). The highest lycopene content among the varieties was produced by V2 on day 21 (0.055) and V3 Original Research Article

Effect of postharvest application of plant powders on physical quality and shelf life of okra during storage in Makurdi

“…The hygroscopic properties of plant leaf powders are the foundation for these beneficial effects because they enable the construction of a barrier to water diffusion between the fruit and the environment, preventing external transference. This supports the findings of Zekrehiwot et al (2017) and Kator et al (2018) that a moringa, neem, and bitter leaf covering was effective in preventing weight loss and lowering the respiration rate of tomatoes during postharvest storage. Weight loss differences between varieties could be attributed to differences in the genetic makeup of the okra varieties and the rate of water loss through transpiration.…”

“…GENSTAT statistical software was used to analyze the data using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), and the Fisher's least significant difference was employed to separate the means at the 5% level of significance. Irokanulo et al, 2015;Kator et al, 2018). Plant powders or extracts also have antibacterial, antimicrobial, and antifungal properties, which could make fruits last longer and keep their physicochemical quality while they are being stored (Irokanulo et al, 2015;Kator et al, 2018).…”

“…Irokanulo et al, 2015;Kator et al, 2018). Plant powders or extracts also have antibacterial, antimicrobial, and antifungal properties, which could make fruits last longer and keep their physicochemical quality while they are being stored (Irokanulo et al, 2015;Kator et al, 2018). Malik et al (2016) also said that plant leaf powders have fungicidal and insecticidal properties and are an important source of agrochemicals used to control diseases and insect pests that happen after harvest.…”

Antimycotic Potential of Alum on Postharvest Deterioration of Tomato

“…This investigation revealed some spoilage fungi associated with deterioration of postharvest tomatoes which provides a milieu for their proliferation due to low pH, high moisture content and nutrient composition. Aspergillus, Fusarium, Penicillium, Rhizopus and Geotrichum identified in this study have not only food relevance but is linked with reduction in the aesthetic, nutritional and economic losses to growers of these vegetables [60, 61,22,62,18,30,36,63]. Some of these fungi are not only known phytopathogens in the field and storage but constitutes animal and human health hazards when mycotoxins are produced [64][65][66].…”

Use of Aloe Vera Gel Coating as Preservative on Tomato

“…The numbers of decaying fruits were counted on each 7 th day of storage and calculated using the formula, Decay percentage=(number of fruits decayed/ total number of fruits)×100%; (Kator et al, 2018).…”