EFFECT OF DIFFERENT PREHARVEST CONDITIONS ON THE POSTHARVEST KEEPING QUALITY OF GREENHOUSE TOMATOES

Yield components and quality parameters at the date of harvest are the key areas of interest in preharvest investigations.
However, after harvest, these charac-teristics change depending on both the initial state at harvest and the post-harvest conditions, such as air temperature, air humidity, and flow conditions close to the produce.
Internal degradation processes as well as water loss as a result of transpi-ration lead to quality loss of horticultural produce in the postharvest chain, rapidly affecting the produce’s marketability.
The aim of the present study was the evalua-tion of the effects of different preharvest conditions on postharvest behaviour of to-mato fruits.
Tomatoes were grown at low or high air temperatures with either low or high nutrient solution concentrations and then subjected to different post-harvest conditions.
We observed that low nutrient solution concentration negatively affected keeping quality, and in addition, a low air temperature during fruit growth intensi-fied this trend.

International Workshop on Models for Plant Growth and Control of Product Quality in Horticultural Production

M. Linke, H.-P. Kläring

Lycopersicum esculentum, temperature, nutrition solution, quality, air humidity, air flow, transpiration resistance, respiration rate

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2004.654.23