Three processing and six fresh market tomato varieties harvested at "mature green" stage were evaluated for changes in quality. The total soluble solid, titratable acidity, sugar-acid ratio, pH, ascorbic acid content, colour and firmness were assessed. The storage room air temperature and relative humidity varied from 15.4(○)C to 16.2(○)C and 34.8% to 52.4%, respectively. At harvest, Marglobe Improved had better chemical quality characteristics compared with the other five fresh market varieties while towards the end of the storage period, chemical quality characteristics were maintained better in Fetane. The highest pH and sugar/acid ratio were obtained in Metadel compared with all other varieties throughout the storage period. Among the processing tomato variety, Roma VF had better chemical quality than other two processing varieties. Melkashola had the highest total soluble solid content in the group. Although the processing varieties ripened earlier than fresh market ones, they were notably firmer with better quality. The processing types were better in their chemical quality than fresh market genotypes. The fresh table tomato varieties had higher sugar-acid ratio and vitamin C. Marglobe Improved and Metadel could be selected in favor of higher nutritional quality whereas Fetane could be considered for maintenance of better overall quality characteristics.

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This experiment was conducted to assess the effects of packaging materials and storage environments on shelf life of papaya fruit (Carica papaya L.). A factorial combination of five packaging materials and two storage environments using randomized complete block design with three replications were used. The papaya fruits were evaluated for weight loss, percentage marketability, firmness, total soluble solids, pH, titratable acidity, ascorbic acid, reducing sugar and total sugar content. The packaged and cooled fruits remained firmer than unpackaged and evaporatively cooled fruits. Higher chemical compositions were recorded in the control fruits stored under ambient conditions during the earlier times of storage. Packaging and cooling maintained the chemical quality of papaya fruits better than the control sample fruits towards the end of storage periods. The evaporatively cooled storage combined with packaging improved the shelf life of papaya fruits by more than two fold. The polyethylene bag packaging combined with evaporatively cooled storage maintained the superior quality of papaya fruit for a period of 21 days. This integrated agro-technology is recommended for postharvest loss reduction biotechnology in hot regions.

Five hot pepper varieties were grown at Haramaya University Research Farm, Dire Dawa, Ethiopia. The experiment was undertaken using completely randomized block design (RCBD) with three replications. Green peppers were stored under ambient and evaporatively cooled conditions. Significant (P≤0.05) differences were observed among cultivars and storage conditions in changes in quality of pepper. Storage at ambient conditions resulted in high weight loss and rapid deterioration in chemical composition. The highest and lowest moisture contents were recorded in Melka Eshet and PBC 600, respectively. Evaporative cooler reduced weight loss and maintained higher levels of pH, ascorbic acid and marketability. The highest weight loss was recorded in Melka Dima stored at ambient condition. The lowest weight loss and highest ascorbic acid content was obtained in Mareko Fana stored in evaporative cooler. After 16 days of storage, all pepper fruits stored at ambient condition were unmarketable while those stored in evaporative cooler were kept up to 28 days. The highest pungency level was observed in ambient storage environment than in evaporative cooler. Evaporative cooling was shown to improve shelf life by four-fold compared to the ambient condition. The shelf life of pepper was improved in all varieties tested while the quality characteristics were maintained better in Mareko Fana than in the other varieties when harvested at maturegreen stage and stored under evaporatively cooled storage.