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Influence of Maturity Stage and Postharvest Calcium Chloride Treatment on the Quality and Storage Life of Tomatoes (Lycopersicon esculentum, Mill)

A Thesis Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology as a partial fulfillment of the Requirement for the Award of Master of Science Degree in Food Science and Technology, March-2014

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Main Author: Arthur, Eric
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: 2014
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access_status_str Open Access
author Arthur, Eric
author_browse Arthur, Eric
author_facet Arthur, Eric
author_sort Arthur, Eric
collection Thesis
description A Thesis Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology as a partial fulfillment of the Requirement for the Award of Master of Science Degree in Food Science and Technology, March-2014
format Thesis
id oai:ir.knust.edu.gh:123456789/6233
institution KNUST (Ghana)
language English
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:31:22.621Z
license_str Not specified — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from KNUSTSpace — Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology (Ghana)
publishDate 2014
publishDateRange 2014
publishDateSort 2014
record_format dspace
source_str KNUSTSpace — Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology (Ghana)
spelling oai:ir.knust.edu.gh:123456789/6233 Influence of Maturity Stage and Postharvest Calcium Chloride Treatment on the Quality and Storage Life of Tomatoes (Lycopersicon esculentum, Mill) Arthur, Eric Maturity stages Fruit Tomato Dip time Storage life Postharvest A Thesis Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology as a partial fulfillment of the Requirement for the Award of Master of Science Degree in Food Science and Technology, March-2014 The postharvest quality and storage life of tomato fruits harvested at different maturity stages (breaker, pink and light red stage) and dipped in different concentrations of CaCl2 (2 %, 6 % and 0%) for different dip durations (10, 20 and 30 min.) were studied. The experiment was in 3 phases under ambient conditions with average temperature and relative humidity of 26.85oC and 82.75 % respectively. The first phase was preliminary and was carried out to determine the appropriate dip time to start with. The second phase was carried out to determine the best stage of maturity; which involved treating the 3 stages of maturity with different concentrations of CaCl2 (2 %, 6 % and 0 %). The third phase involved the selection of the best stage of maturity in the second phase and dipping it in different concentrations of CaCl2 for different dip durations. The preliminary study results indicated that, dipping for up to 40 minutes was injurious to the fruits skin. Results from the second phase showed that, fruits harvested at the pink stage recorded significantly (P < 0.05) higher amount of titratable acidity and vitamin C after 10 days of storage. All calcium chloride treated fruits showed a significant (P < 0.05) delay in the changes of weight loss, firmness, decay titratable acidity and vitamin C as compared to the control (0%). Third phase results indicated that, tomato fruit dipped in 6 % CaCl2 was more effective than in the 2 % CaCl2 and the 0 % in maintaining quality. Both 20 and 30 minutes dip time were significantly (P < 0.05) effective in maintaining weight loss, firmness, vitamin C content and also extending storage life as compared to the 10 min dip time. Therefore, tomato fruits harvested at the pink stage and dipped in 6 % CaCl2 for 20 better facilitated the extension of storage life and the preservation of quality. KNUST 2014-08-04T13:27:26Z 2023-04-20T13:20:43Z 2014-08-04T13:27:26Z 2023-04-20T13:20:43Z 2014-08-04 Thesis https://ir.knust.edu.gh/handle/123456789/6233 en application/pdf
spellingShingle Maturity stages
Fruit
Tomato
Dip time
Storage life
Postharvest
Arthur, Eric
Influence of Maturity Stage and Postharvest Calcium Chloride Treatment on the Quality and Storage Life of Tomatoes (Lycopersicon esculentum, Mill)
title Influence of Maturity Stage and Postharvest Calcium Chloride Treatment on the Quality and Storage Life of Tomatoes (Lycopersicon esculentum, Mill)
title_full Influence of Maturity Stage and Postharvest Calcium Chloride Treatment on the Quality and Storage Life of Tomatoes (Lycopersicon esculentum, Mill)
title_fullStr Influence of Maturity Stage and Postharvest Calcium Chloride Treatment on the Quality and Storage Life of Tomatoes (Lycopersicon esculentum, Mill)
title_full_unstemmed Influence of Maturity Stage and Postharvest Calcium Chloride Treatment on the Quality and Storage Life of Tomatoes (Lycopersicon esculentum, Mill)
title_short Influence of Maturity Stage and Postharvest Calcium Chloride Treatment on the Quality and Storage Life of Tomatoes (Lycopersicon esculentum, Mill)
title_sort influence of maturity stage and postharvest calcium chloride treatment on the quality and storage life of tomatoes lycopersicon esculentum mill
topic Maturity stages
Fruit
Tomato
Dip time
Storage life
Postharvest
url https://ir.knust.edu.gh/handle/123456789/6233
work_keys_str_mv AT arthureric influenceofmaturitystageandpostharvestcalciumchloridetreatmentonthequalityandstoragelifeoftomatoeslycopersiconesculentummill