Impact of different packaging materials on the fruit quality of tomatoes from Akumadan (Offinso North District, Ashanti region of Ghana)

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is the most widely cultivated horticultural crop in Akumadan and its environs. It is one of the highly perishable vegetable and it changes immediately after harvesting. There are many postharvest technologies that extend marketable shelf life of tomato fruits and other vegetables. Different packaging materials were evaluated to access their impact on the shelf life and quality of tomato fruit in Akumadan in the Offinso North district in the Ashanti region of Ghana. Packaging materials (treatments) which include; jute sack, wooden box, and plastic basket were evaluated under an ambient condition (30±2oC). Laboratory bench was used to store tomato fruits term as control. 10 kg of freshly harvested tomatoes were kept in each treatment in a completely randomized design (CRD) with three (3) replications and stored for five (5) days. Tomatoes were sampled from each treatment from the bottom, middle, and the top for analysis. Fruit firmness, dry matter content, Weight loss, fruit decay, Vitamin C, Titratable acidity, total soluble solids, and pH of the various treatment were analysed. The results showed that, the treatments significantly (p>0.005) affected fruit decay, moisture content, and pH of the tomatoes whilst dry matter content, firmness, soluble solids, titratable acidity and vitamin C were insignificant (p<0.005). Decaying of tomatoes was more evident in jute sack giving an indication an aerated material is ideal for tomatoes storage.