EFFECTS OF EDIBLE COATINGSAND CaCl2 PRESTORAGE TREATMENTS ON POSTHARVEST QUALITY AND SHELF LIFE OF TOMATO (Solanum lycopersicum L.)

Tomato is a crop of high economic importance crop in the world including Ethiopia. As a climacteric fruit, tomato ripening is highly dependent on ethylene action, which makes this fruit highly perishable in short period. Pre storage treatments like CaCl2 and edible coatings are important to maintain the fruit quality after harvest and to extend shelf life. This study was conducted with the aim of evaluating the effect of CaCl2 and edible coatings on postharvest quality and shelflife of tomato. The postharvest quality of tomato fruits harvested at the pink stage and dipped in 4 different concentrations of CaCl2 (0%, 2%, 4% and 6%) and four edible coatings (no coating, cactus mucilage, aloe vera gel and beeswax) were studied. The experiment was laid out as a Complete Randomized Design with three replications. Physical quality (firmness, marketability, decay and physiological weight loss), chemical composition (vitamin C, total soluble solids (TSS), pH and titratable acidity (TA)), sensory attributes and shelf life of tomato were evaluated during 30 days of storage duration. Data were collected between five days interval from the sample fruits. The recorded data were analyzed by SAS software. The results showed that both CaCl2 and edible coatings had highly significant (p˂0.01) effect on shelflife and quality of tomato. Fruits treated by 6% CaCl2 and coated with aloe vera gel and beeswax significantly reduced physiological weight loss (PLW), percentage decay, TSS, pH of tomato juice and loss of ascorbic acid during the storage period and it increased the shelflife the fruits by 15 days as compared to the control. The highest fruit marketability, firmness, ascorbic acid were recorded from the combination of treatments (6% CaCl2 with AG and BW coating) over storage period. From the result of the study, the combination of treatments 6% CaCl2 with AG or BW can be recommend from shelflife and quality point of view on Shanty tomato.