Abstract:
Mature green tomatoes were subjected to investigation on the effect of pectin as an edible
coating on the storage quality and the shelf life during refrigerated at 15°C. Fruits were tested for
physiological weight loss, ascorbic acid, titratable acidity and total sugars during storage and
ripening. Coated tomatoes at Red stage were subjected to statistical analysis at 5% significant
level. Fruits coated with 5% pectin solution were found to be the most effective in minimizing the
weight loss by 1.56% at red stage. Tomatoes coated with 3% of pectin showed greater retention
of titratable acidity and total sugars of 0.39% and 20.2% and reduced the ascorbic acid loss by
2.39 mg% respectively, during the storage and ripening. The ripening of tomato fruits was delayed
by the coating and the tomatoes coated in 3% pectin solution were kept for 24 days without
decay. In sensory analysis, the highest overall acceptability was observed in the tomatoes coated
with 3% pectin solution compared to other treatments. Based on these results, tomatoes coated
with 3% of pectin solution stored at 15°C were selected as the best treatment to maintain the post
storage qualities during ripening
