Active Packaging of Green Mature Tomatoes with Pectin Coating to Extend the Shelf Life

Abstract

A study -was conducted to investigate the effect of pectin as an active packaging on the storage quality and the shelf life of mature green tomatoes (cv. KC-1). The tomatoes were dipped into the concentrations of 1, 3 and 5% (w/v) pectin solutions for 5 minutes and stored at 30°C. Fruits were tested for physiological weight loss, ascorbic acid, titratable acidity and total sugars at different ripening stages such as breaker, turning, pink, light red and red. Fruits were also evaluated to determine the number of days taken for ripening and shelf life. Based on the quality parameters the best treatments were assessed for sensory characteristics using nine-point hedonic test. Fruits coated with 5% pectin solution showed most effective result in minimizing weight loss at red stage and tomatoes coated with 3% of pectin showed greater retention of ascorbic acid, titratable acidity and total sugars during storage. The ripening of tomato fruits was delayed by the pectin coating and the tomatoes coated with 3% pectin solution were kept for 28 days without decay. In the sensory analysis, highest overall acceptability was observed in the tomatoes coated with 3% pectin solution. Based on these results, tomatoes coated with 3% of pectin solution stored at 30°C was found to be the best treatment to extend the shelf life of the tomatoes.