The Load Resistivity to Static Pressure and the Permissible Limit of Heaping Height on the Tomato Fruit for Processing

Abstract

Load resistibility to static pressure and the permissible limit of heaping height were examined on the fruits of tomato for processing in order to rationalize a method for the handling of the fruits after harvest.
1. The behavior of fruits of static pressure resembled closely creep of fourelement model in the visco-elastic body.
2. The hardness and elastic behavior of the fruits were high in the cultivars of ‘AT 70/24’ ‘TE-30’ and ‘ES-58’.
A high correlation was observed between the creep characten and the color tone (Hunter a/b ratio) of the fruits with the significant level of 0.1%, and the hardness and elastic behavior decreased with maturity.
3. The observed relations of the degree of fruit deformation to the magnitude of load and to the loading time showed that the extent of occurrence of lacerated wounds in the fruits was low in ‘ES-58’ ‘TE-30’ and ‘AT70/24’ and high in ‘H-1409’ ‘KG-127’ and ‘Kurikoma’. The limiting deformation rate beyond which the fruits were lacerated was highest (36.8%) for ‘AT-70/24’ and lowest (7.5%) for ‘H-1409’.
4. The extent of fruit injury increased with an increase in heaping height of the fruits. Among the cultivars examined, ‘H-1409’ was injured most markedly, while ‘TE-30’ most slightly. The permissible limit of heaping height was very large for ‘AT70/24’ ‘ES-58’ and ‘TE-30’ and low for ‘H-1409’ and ‘KG-127’.
These observations indicate that the cultivars with high hardness and elastic behavior are also have the high load resistibility to static pressure. Among the cultivars examined, load resistibility to static pressure was very high for ‘AT70/24’ ‘TE-30’ and ‘ES-58’.