Effect of ripening conditions on the physicochemical and antioxidant properties of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.)

This study was conducted to assess the physicochemical changes and overall nutritional implications of greenhouse-grown "TY Megaton" and "Yureka" tomato cultivars under on-vine and postharvest ripening conditions. In the first group, tomatoes were harvested from a vine at the breaker, pink, and red ripening stages and sampled immediately. The second group was harvested at the breaker stage and allowed to ripen under room conditions to the pink and red stages based on color values, similar to the vine-ripened samples. The results of the present study revealed that fresh weight loss was below the maximum acceptable weight loss and firmness was above the minimum limit of marketing after postharvest ripening to the pink and red stages; moreover, this process did not have any deleterious effect on the antioxidant properties or antioxidant activity of the tomatoes. Hence, the results clearly indicate that breaker-stage tomatoes can be postharvest-ripened under room conditions without affecting their marketability and nutritional components.