Abstract:
Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) is one of the most popular and widely consumed
vegetable crops in many parts of the world including Ethiopia. However, it is highly perishable
and post-harvest loss is the major problem that discourages production in many developing
countries, including Ethiopia. Tomato fruit deteriorates in a short period due to its nature and
poor postharvest handlings. Therefore, research was carried out to evaluate the effect of
harvesting stages and postharvest treatments on fruit quality and shelf life of shanty PM tomato
variety. The experiment comprised three levels of harvesting stages (mature green, turning and
light red) and eight levels of post-harvest treatments; control (water washed), 300ppm sodium
hypochlorite (NaOCl), 3% beeswax, white low-density polyethylene bag (LDPE), 300 ppm NaOCl
+ 3% beeswax, 300 ppm NaOCl + LDPE, 3% beeswax + LDPE, and 300 ppm NaOCl+ 3%
beeswax + LDPE. Treatments were laid out in 3 × 8 factorial arrangements in a completely
randomized design with three replications. Quality attributes and shelf-life parameters were
collected at four-day intervals during the 36 days of storage. Fruits treated with 300 ppm NaOCl
and coated with beeswax and placed in LDPE bags significantly reduced physiological weight loss
(11.84,20.23, and 26.70%), percentage decay (11.76,52.14 and 54.64%), TA (0.44,0.34 and 0.26
g/l), pH of tomato juice (4.19,4.41 and 4.49), and ascorbic acid loss during storage (17.09,15.56
and 12.35 mg/100 g), and increased the shelf life (36,29.67 and 29.67 in days) of the fruits that
were harvested in green, turning and light red stages, respectively. It can, thus, be concluded that
red light harvesting stages and the combination of LDPE bags, NaOCl (300 ppm) and coating
with BW (3%) can be recommended for Shanty PM tomato in terms of extending shelf life and
maintaining quality
