2004 Volume 11 Issue 2 Pages 75-82
A study was performed to assess the modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) effect on the color development of hot water treated cherry tomato. Mature green cherry tomato fruits were treated in hot water for 90 min at 39℃ and then stored in different size of micro perforated polypropylene films to generate a range of modified atmosphere at 15℃ for 10 days. Individually, heat-treatment inhibited the color development by 34%, and modified atmosphere (5% O_2 + 4.6%CO_2) generated in the smallest film did 43% whereas combination of these two treatments suppressed 59% of color development. It shows that the combination of hot water treatment (HWT) and MAP can delay the color development of cherry tomato more than their individual use. Our results indicate that modified O_2 is the dominant factor and 9% O_2 is lower enough to achieve the utmost benefit from the combination. Our results also suggest that the combination technique may have potential for the preservation of harvested ripening products at least of tomato fruits.
