Authors: Ness Marie Sta. Iglesia, Marcelo A. Quevedo and Zenaida C. Gonzaga

ABSTRACT

Tomatoes are highly perishable and postharvest losses vary greatly among production areas and seasons of production. This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of open or protected cultivation system and postharvest modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) on the physical and chemical changes of tomatoes during ambient storage with temperatures ranging from 20°C to 35°C and relative humidity (RH) of 80% to 90%.
The cultivation system had no significant effect on the physicochemical constituents. In contrast, MAP storage significantly influenced some of the storage parameters evaluated. Use of paper bags and 0.02 mm thick low density polyethylene bags with diffusion holes slightly delayed ripening, effectively reduced weight loss, minimized decay incidence and maintained better visual quality throughout the 12 – day storage period relative to fruits stored in the open.

Keywords: Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.), Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP), Cultivation systems, Physical parameters, Chemical parameters