Mechanical Properties of Tomatoes Subjected to an Induced Compression during Storage

Abstract

The purpose of this work was to evaluate texture alterations due to compression load on tomatoes stored at 15 and 25C, which simulates transport in type "K" wooden boxes. The following mechanical properties were analyzed during storage: firmness, proportional deformity modulus, energy to deform the product, penetration force of the tomato skin and the energy required for penetration. Structural alterations were noticed solely by a puncture test. The mechanical property values significantly decreased during storage. The weight loss varied significantly among control and treatment tomatoes during storage, and the tomatoes stored at 25C obtained higher weight loss values. These results will aid in generating logistic procedures to prevent mechanical damage to tomatoes when they are transported in wooden boxes, thus increasing producer profitability. Furthermore, if damage to tomatoes does occur, professionals will be able to predict the shelf life of the tomatoes. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONSResults of this manuscript may aid and alert developers of packages to prevent quality loss due to compression loads throughout transport and/or storage. Furthermore, in order to analyze quickly the quality of tomatoes, puncture test can be used, in which its parameters were obtained. The manuscript states clearly that refrigeration is not efficient in order to prevent quality loss if the tomato fruits are submitted to compression loads. Thus, prior to storage temperature, compression of tomatoes stacked on top of one another must be avoided in order to maintain quality and increase shelf life of this product.

Modelling effects of pre-storage treatments, maturity stage, low-cost storage technology environment and storage period on the quality of tomato fruit

“…Oliveira, Corrêa, Botelho and Oliveira (2015) reported that the firmness of tomato fruit can vary from 34.68 to 21.24 N, while the result from this paper shows which was between 45 and 10 N during storage time. The decrease of tomato firmness during storage period was reported by several researchers (Oliveira et al, 2015;Schouten et al, 2014Schouten et al, , 2007. The result of this paper can help to study the structural hardness of tomato fruit during the storage period.…”

“…A decrease in the firmness during storage period, which caused by breakdown of the tomato fruit cell structure (Schouten et al, 2007). Oliveira, Corrêa, Botelho and Oliveira (2015) reported that the firmness of tomato fruit can vary from 34.68 to 21.24 N, while the result from this paper shows which was between 45 and 10 N during storage time. The decrease of tomato firmness during storage period was reported by several researchers (Oliveira et al, 2015;Schouten et al, 2014Schouten et al, , 2007.…”

Supporting young researchers in food texture studies

“…Since 2002, many research articles on texture of raw or minimum processed vegetables and fruits have been published in the JTS . New methods for precise evaluation of vegetables and fruits were proposed (Barikloo & Ahmadi, ; Boonmung, Chomtee, & Kanlayasiri, ; Camps, Guillermin, Mauget, & Bertrand, ; Dan et al, ; De Oliveira, Corrêa, Botelho, & De Oliveira, ; Desmet, Lammertyn, Verlinden, & Nicolaï, ; Kabas & Ozmerzi, ; Lana, Tijskens, De Theije, Dekker, & Barrett, ; Maury et al, ; Park, Chun, Lee, Lee, & Kim, ; Puangsombut, Pathaveerat, Terdwongworakul, & Puangsombut, ; Solomon & Jindal, ; Terdwongworakul, Puangsombat, & Pathaveerat, ; Trnka, Pavloušek, Medomoca, & Buchar, ; Valero et al, ; Vandenberghe & Claes, ; Vincent, Saunders, & Beyts, ). A specified part of vegetable and fruits, such as single cells from tomato pericarp (Wang, Pritchard, & Thomas, ), cell walls of carrot and potato (Zdunek & Umeda, ), carrot cell walls (Kurita & Masuda, ), epidermal tissue of onion (Hepworth & Bruce, ), and kiwi peelability (Harker, Hallett, White, & Seal, ) were also investigated.…”

Finite element analysis of blueberry stack damage

“…The factors affecting the quality of blueberries mainly include three parts: (a) during the process of grading and packaging, blueberries are constantly impacted and squeezed (Moggia, Graell, Lara, González, & Lobos, 2017; Prusky, 2011; Zhang, Yang, Meng, Liu, & Kou, 2011); (b) changes in external temperature, humidity, etc. (de Oliveira, Correa, Botelho, & de Oliveira, 2015; Ghodki et al, 2020; Stropek & Gołacki, 2013); and (c) the fruit continues to mature. The mechanical damage to blueberries mainly includes two parts: compression and impact damage.…”