2025/07/18 by Muhie, Seid Hussen, S. Worku, B. Masrie
paper · doi:10.20372/nadre:9482
Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) has a short shelf life at ambient<br> conditions and is a highly perishable crop. Extreme postharvest<br> losses<br> occur as a result of the wrong packaging materials. However, by employing the<br> right packing materials, tomato varietals can have longer shelf lives. Globally<br> rising fresh tomato demand has forced the development of essential mechanisms,<br> including packaging materials, to improve shelf life. The current study<br> was initiated to evaluate the quality and shelflife<br> of tomato varieties in<br> response to packaging materials at Mersa, North Wollo, Ethiopia, during 2021<br> cropping season. Three replications of a completely randomized design were<br> used to test three tomato varieties (Roma VF, Oval red and Woyno) and seven<br> packing materials [closed carton (CC), open carton (OC), closed wooden box<br> (CWB), open wooden box (OWB), perforated polyethylene bag (PPB), nonperforated<br> polyethylene bag (NPPB) and control (C)] at room temperature (2022°<br> C). According to the findings, there is a significant (P<0.05) interaction effect<br> between packaging materials and varieties on a number of parameters, including<br> physiological weight loss, decay percentage, disease incidence, total soluble<br> solids (TSS), tomato fruit PH, juice color score, overall acceptability, marketability<br> percentage, and shelf life. Nonperforated<br> polyethylene plastic experienced<br> the highest physiological weight losses of 79.88% and 79.63% after 18 days of<br> storage. Roma VF variety showed the greatest weight loss. In addition,<br> PPB showed the lowest decay percentage (20%) and maximum marketability<br> (20%) during the 18th day of storage. At the end of storage,<br> NPPB with Roma VF and Woyno varieties had a substantially (100%)<br> larger decay loss of tomato fruits. NPPB has been linked to the highest<br> disease incidence (20%). Roma VF and Oval red recorded the highest<br> pH tomato fruit’s color and overall acceptability score on PPB. It<br> can, thus, be concluded that packaging of tomato fruits in PPB can extend shelflife<br> with betterquality<br> of the produce. However, to develop plausible recommendation,<br> the study should be repeated in multilocation<br> with more packaging<br> methods and varieties over seasons.