Use of UV-C postharvest treatment for extending fresh whole tomato (Solanum lycopersicum, cv. Zinac) shelf-life

• DOI: 10.1007/s13197-014-1550-0
• Publication Date: 2014-09-23T23:25:54Z
• Authors: Joaquina Pinheiro; Carla Alegria; Marta Abreu; Elsa M. Gonçalves; Cristina L. M. Silva
• Keywords: UV-C radiation; 2. Zero hunger; Storage; Microbial load; 04 agricultural and veterinary sciences; 0405 other agricultural sciences; Quality; Tomato

The effect of UV-C treatments (0.32, 0.97, 2.56, 4.16 and 4.83 kJ.m(-2) at 254 nm) on the physical-chemical properties [colour, texture, total phenolic content (TPC), weight loss (WL)], and mesophylic counts of whole tomato, was evaluated during 15 days at 10 °C. During storage, the Ctr samples acquired faster red colour than all UV-C samples (higher a* and lower °h values). Comparing texture of Ctr and UV-C samples at 15(th) storage day, an increase of 9 and 8 % on firmness of treated samples at low UV-C intensities (0.32 and 0.97 kJ.m(-2), respectively) was observed. At the end of the storage, Ctr samples showed ca. 4 Log10 of mesophylic load, and the samples treated at 0.97 and 4.83 kJ.m(-2) revealed the lowest microbial load (1.9 and 3.2 Log10, respectively). These results indicate that UV-C radiation, at an appropriate dose, combined with low storage temperature (10 °C) are an effective method to preserve the postharvest life of tomato, without adversely affecting quality parameters.