Changes in Lycopene Contents, Brix and Weight Loss of Cherry Tomatoes at Different Ripening Stages, Harvested with the Non-Destructive Quality Measurement by Visible Near-Infrared Spectroscopy

Abstract

　Fruits and vegetables should be examined to assess their quality before shipment to the market. Near-infrared spectroscopy has garnered considerable attention as a non-destructive quality evaluation method because it enables simple and rapid analysis. In this study, besides collecting data from previous studies on ripening stage red fruits, we used newly harvested cherry tomatoes at all ripening stages to create the calibration curve applicable to all ripening stages and different fruit colors and shapes. Thus, the highly accurate calibration curve with the correlation coefficient of r = 0.98, SEC = 0.78, 0.35, SEP = 0.81, 0.43, EI = 16.2, 12.3% for lycopene contents and Brix (n = 234 and 558, respectively) was created in the non-destructive analyses of the lycopene contents and Brix of cherry tomatoes. Subsequently, the lycopene contents and Brix were analyzed with non-destructive (with the same fruits) and destructive (a conventional method with different fruits) analyses to compare changes with regard to storage day. Fruits at ripening stage breaker and red were used in these analyses. In addition, the lycopene contents and Brix of different fruit shapes and ripening stage cherry tomatoes were analyzed in the non-destructive analysis over time using the same fruits. Four varieties of cherry tomatoes at ripening stage were used: mature green, breaker, pink, and red. Compared with the destructive analysis, the non-destructive analysis required less number of fruits and facilitated simple and rapid measurement with the same fruits. This study is the first to analyze the components of cherry tomatoes using the same fruits over time with the non-destructive quality measurement.