Damage to intact fruit affects quality of slices from ripened tomatoes

Breaker stage fruit (cvs 901 and Bobcat) were subjected to different types of physical damage: 3 impacts of a steel ball (67 g) from a height of 33, 66 or 99 cm, 8 impacts of the ball from 99 cm, or dropping the fruit once 1 m onto a hard surface. Fruit were then held at 20?C until full red, sanitized, sliced and stored at 5?C. Damaged fruit were less firm than undamaged fruit when ripe. Slice quality appearance, translucency, lycopene content, juice loss) and shelf-life were affected by damage to the fruit. Lycopene concentrations were higher in undamaged (4.0 mg/kg) than damaged fruit (3.5 and 2.7 mg/kg with 3 impacts from 99 cm and drop damage) and decreased during storage at 5?C. Translucency increased with time and onset was more rapid in moderate to high damage fruit. Juice loss was higher in slices from undamaged (6e8 g/100 g FW) than damaged fruit (1e4 g/100 g). Severe damage resulted in collapse of locular tissue and moderate damage may have induced mealiness. PG activities differed little between slices from severely damaged and undamaged fruit and no differences in PME activities were found. The Conclusions of the paper are:Bruising tomatoes at breaker stage had important effects on many quality parameters of the sliced product from ripened fruit. Visual quality, translucency, lycopene content and total juice loss were all affected by damage inflicted at an early stage of ripening. After a few days at 5?C, the slices from the moderately damaged fruit had lower visual quality, higher translucency and lower lycopene content than slices from undamaged fruit. Juice loss was lower in slices from damaged fruit and was inversely related to the severity of the damage. Severe damage led to loss of typical internal tomato structure and less locular tissue. Severe damage affected PG activity and membrane integrity, especially after slicing and storage at 5?C. The severely damaged fruit produced slices with lower juice loss, lower PG activity and higher apparent membrane integrity, all indicative of development of a mealy or less juicy texture caused by the combined effect of bruising and slicing. The complete article is available as link or pdf, belowThe picture shows the appearance of slices from tomato fruit of cv 901 that were undamaged (NO) r severely damaged (SD, upper row). Fruit were damaged at the breaker stage by dropping a 67 g stainless steel ball from 99 cm 8 times per fruit. Photos were taken immediately upon slicing after 3 h, 1, 5 or 10 days of fruit ripening at 20?C ? SourceDamage to intact fruit affects quality of slices from ripened tomatoesMarina Buccheri (a), Marita Cantwell (b)(a) Consiglio per la ricerca e la sperimentazione in agricoltura, Unita di ricerca per i processi dell'industria agroalimentare, Food Technology Research Unit, via Venezian 26, 20133 Milano, Italy(b) University of California Davis, Dept. Plant Sciences, Mann Laboratory, Davis, CA 95616-8780, USAMentioned by Postharvest Postings from UC Davis?Postharvest Technology Center - August 2014 ? Key wordsTomate?? ? ?? ?tomato?? ?tamatie?? ???????? ?????? ??? ??? ?????????? ???????? ?tomaat?? ?pomodoro?? ?pomidor?? ??? ?????????? ??? domates?? ??? ??????? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ?Poscosecha?? ?postcosecha?? ?postharvest?? ?na-oes?? ??? ??? ???????? ????? ??? ?post-r?colte?? ????? ?? ??????????? ??? ?na-oogst?? ?post-raccolta?? ?Obr?bka po?? ?p?s-colheita?? ????????????????? ?hasat sonras??? ??? ?Ernte?? ????????????????? ????? ????????????? ?postcollita?? ?poskliz?ov頠 ????? ??? ??? ??? ?nakon branja?? ?pozberov頠 ??? ?obdelovanje zemlje po?? ?post-colleita?? ?????? ??????? ?pascapanen?? ??il?onn postharvest?? ??????? ?p?c ra?as?? ?derliaus apdirbimas po?? ?lepas tuai?? ??? ?? ???????? ?post-recoltare?? ??????? ??????? ???????????????????? ?????????????? ?????????????????? ?sau thu ho?ch?? ?????????????????? ?zangemva kwenkathi yokuvuna ? ?