Comparison of Ethylene Sensitivity of Three Tomato Cultivars From Different Tomato Types and Effects of Ethylene on Postharvest Performance

The aim of study was to investigate ethylene sensitivity of different types of tomatoes and the effects of ethylene on their postharvest performance. For that purpose, beefsteak, heirloom and cluster types of tomato fruit were harvested at the breaker maturity stage and divided into two groups one of which was treated with 150 μL L−1 ethylene and the other was untreated for comparison. Ethylene treated and untreated fruit were stored at 12 °C and 90+5% relative humidity for 35 days and subsamples removed every 7 days for postharvest quality analysis. After each removal time, fruit were kept at 20 °C for 3 days in order to determine shelf life performance. Ethylene treatment lead to increase respiration rate, ethylene production, weight loss but decreased fruit firmness in all tested tomato cultivars. Minimum ethylene production and respiration rate occurred in untreated beefsteak tomatoes. At the end of cold storage and shelf life period, the highest L* values and fruit firmness were recorded for control beefsteak tomatoes. The conclusion drawn from this experiment was that the cluster type of tomatoes was more sensitive, while beefsteak type of tomatoes was found to be less sensitive to ethylene treatment as they had the highest and lowest amount of ethylene productions respectively. Untreated beefsteak tomatoes exhibited maximal postharvest quality compared to other treatments after 35 days cold storage and shelf life

Impact of modified atmosphere packaging on fruit quality and postharvest life of ‘0900 Ziraat’ cherries

The sweet cherry is highly perishable with a restricted storage and shelf-life and in some cases unable to reach the final consumer at optimal eating quality after being transported to the market. For this reason, in this research, the effects of different modified atmosphere packaging materials on postharvest life and fruit quality of ‘0900 Ziraat’ cherries (Prunus avium L.) were investigated to extend storage and marketing period. For this purpose, cherries were stored for 50 days at 0°C temperature with 90-95% relative humidity in three different types of packaging materials. The first group of cherries was packed in micro-perforated Xtend bags (MAP-1). The second group of cherries was packed in ordinary non-perforated polyethylene bags (MAP-2) and the third group of cherries was packed in ordinary perforated polyethylene bags (MAP-3-Control). Fruit samples were taken from different storage rooms at intervals of 10 days and physical and chemical changes were determined in the fruits. Experiment results showed that the lowest weight losses were obtained on the cherries stored in MAP-1. The cherries stored in MAP-2 had higher soluble solids content. Titratable acidity increased during the first 10 days of storage and then decreased. The fruit stored in MAP-1 had the highest flesh firmness, titratable acidity, L*, C* and taste values. The most effective MAP treatment for controlling pitting and stem browning was MAP-1. It can be concluded that ‘0900 Ziraat’ cherry fruits were successfully stored at 0°C temperature and 90-95% RH up to 50 days in MAP-1