MI Hossain
Department of Horticulture, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh 2202, Bangladesh.
MH Ar Rashid
Department of Horticulture, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh 2202, Bangladesh.
Cherry tomato, Maturity indices, MAP, diseases, Shelf life, Quality
Department of Horticulture and Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh
Postharvest and Agro-processing
The present study was conducted to study the effect of maturity indices and modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) on the extension of shelf life and quality retention of cherry tomato at the Laboratories of the Department of Horticulture, and Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh during the period from February to April 2019. Well-developed, uniform-sized, and healthy cherry tomato fruits were harvested from the Landscaping section of the Department of Horticulture, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh, and taken to the postgraduate laboratory. Only good cherry tomato fruits of uniform maturity were selected for the experiment and were kept under ambient temperature (25 ± 10C) prior to further treatments.
Treatments of the investigation and experimental design: The two-factor experiment consisted of three maturity indices viz. (i) Maturity index 1 (M1: Mature green color), (ii) Maturity index 2 (M2: Yellow color), and (iii) Maturity index 3 (M3: Red color) and five postharvest treatments viz. (i) Control (T0), (ii) Low-density perforated polyethylene, LDPPE (T1), (iii) Low-density polyethylene, LDPE (T2), (iv) Low-density perforated plastic box, LDPPB (T3), and (v) Low-density plastic box, LDPB (T4). The experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design with 3 replications. For MAP, LDPPE, LDPE, LDPPB, and LDPB treated cherry tomato fruits were kept in the respective bags and boxes. For MAP treatment, the bags were sealed and made airtight so as to prevent the exchange of gases. For LDPPE and LDPPB treatments, the bags and boxes were perforated and the fruits were stored in these perforated bags and plastic boxes. The most widely used material is obtained by polymerization of ethylene gas under high pressures of 1000-3000 atmospheres. Low-density polyethylene (LDPE) is a fairly soft, slightly translucent flexible material with a waxy feel. It possesses excellent resistance to most chemicals, a good barrier to water vapor, but less barrier to oxygen. It has a high permeability to volatiles and swells in contact with fats and oils. It gives very good heat seals and is easily coated onto other materials and serves as a good laminated layer. Low-density polyethylene bags and plastic boxes (15 x 20cm) were selected and each circular hole of polyethylene bag and plastic box were punched on polyethylene bags and plastic box at equidistance from each other. Half the number of bags are kept with and without making holes and used as bags with and without perforated. Out of 300 cm2 area of the bag, 60 cm2 top portions were sealed with the help of a sealing machine by using the formula π r2. So it almost 10 holes were made at an equal distance from one another. Postharvest treatments used in the storage were sequentially assigned to the collected fruits. After applying the treatments cherry tomato fruits were kept on a brown paper which was previously laid out in completely randomized design and placed on the laboratory table at ambient temperature. To ensure the application of different storage treatments to cherry tomato fruits the following procedures were adopted. For control (T0), fruits were selected randomly from a lot of cherry tomato and the fruits were kept on brown and white paper of the laboratory table at room condition arranging at random by replication. For LDPPE (T1), low-density perforated polyethylene was used for this treatment. An individual fruit was taken into LDPPE, 13 fruits were kept in it and the top of the bag was tied and then placed on brown paper for observation. For LDPE (T2), low-density polyethylene was used for this treatment. An individual fruit was taken into LDPPE, 13 fruits were kept into it and the top of the bag was tied and then placed on brown paper for observation. For LDPPB (T3), low-density perforated plastic boxes were used. An individual fruit was taken into LDPPB, 13 fruits were kept into it and the top of the bag was tied and then placed on brown paper for observation. For LDPB (T4), low-density plastic boxes were used. An individual fruit was taken into LDPB, 13 fruits were kept into it and the top of the box was tied and then placed on brown/white paper for observation. After the application of all the treatments, the fruits were kept under ambient temperature (25 ± 1°C) prior to further treatments. The collected data on various parameters were analyzed statistically using the MSTAT computer programme. The means for all the treatments were calculated and analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed by F-test. The mean difference between a pair of treatments was tested by the least significant difference (LSD) at 5 and 1% levels of probability (Gomez and Gomez, 1984).
Progressive Agriculture 32 (1): 43-59, 2021
Journal