Biochemical changes in calcium chloride treated Hisar Arun (Local) and Kashi Vishesh (Hybrid) cultivars of Tomato fruit

Abstract

Tomato (Lycopersicum esculentum) although, second largest crop produced across the world, is a highly perishable commodity. Consequently, pre and postharvest treatments are critical in order to enhance the shelf-life and nutrition. Therefore, two popular Indian tomato cultivars namely Hisar Arun and Kashi Vishesh in their Mature Green, Breaker and Mature Red stages were treated with 1%, 2% and 5% Calcium chloride in order to increase their shelf life and stored at 5°C, 10°C and 15°C temperatures. The changes in non-enzymatic antioxidants namely ascorbic acid, Lycopene, Carotenoid, and Total Phenol were recorded up to 21 days of storage. Our investigation revealed a linear increase in the ascorbic acid at 5°C when treated with 5% CaCl2 (~40%) while Lycopene (45%) and carotenoids (25%) have shown comparative moderate increment at 10°C storage when treated with 1% CaCl2. Our analysis suggests that low (1%) concentration of CaCl2 is the most effective in controlling the increase of investigated non-enzymatic antioxidants in both cultivars. Moreover, hybrid cultivar tomatoes exhibited delayed deterioration compared with local type and can be recommended for long-time storage.