Modelling effects of pre-storage treatments, maturity stage, low-cost storage technology environment and storage period on the quality of tomato fruit

Abstract

The aim of this study was to develop a model for prediction of the quality of tomato during storage. Two storage conditions (evaporatively cooled and ambient), four disinfection treatments (tap, anolyte, hot and chlorinated water) and three maturity stages (green, pink and red) were employed in this experiment. Using multivariate analysis, the principal components (PC) (PC1, PC2) were analysed. The PC1 and PC2 contributed 47.9% and 26.0% of total variation, respectively. Maturity stages and the disinfection treatments had significant (p < 0.05) influence on PC1 and PC2. Nonlinear fractional and polynomial models were fitted to the experimental data to screen the best models. Hue angle, firmness, titratable acidity (TA) and total soluble solid:TA demonstrated nonlinear relationship with days of storage. TA, hue angle and firmness of tomatoes fitted well to the models developed. The models are recommended for use by tomato farmers to predict changes in the quality parameters.