Advanced Research Journal of Biotechnology (ARJB) ISSN 3456-097xVol. 4(1), pp. 071-077, August, 2020. © Advanced Scholars Journals 

Full length Research paper

 The Role of Asprin in Delaying Postharvest Ripening of Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) Fruits.

Abera Leta, *Zekeria Yusuf, J. M. Sasikumar

School of Biological and Biotechnological Sciences, Haramaya University

*Corresponding Author’s Email:[email protected]

Accepted 16 June, 2020.

Abstract 

Tomato is used as condiments for stew which is a regular feature of meals globally. Hence it is an important ingredient in the confectionary industry. Postharvest loss is a major challenge hampering tomatoes production in most developing countries. The present study was planned to investigate the role of acetylsalicylic acid in delaying post harvest ripening and enhancing shelf life of tomato fruits. The result indicated that there was significant difference  between control and acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) treated groups  during postharvest storage of tomato fruit samples for all measured fruit quality parameters including weight loss, vitamin C, chlorophyll, carotenoid, titratable acidity and sugar contents. It was also observed that mean values for weight loss, vitamin C, chlorophyll and total acidity for treatment groups were lower than for the control indicating that treatment with acetylsalicylic acid has slowed down reduction of these parameters during postharvest ripening of tomato fruits. Thus, ASA treatment delays role in fruit ripening and can increase shelf life of the fruits. The principal component analysis (PCA) was indicated that reducing sugars and carotenoid contents increase while weight loss, vitamin C, chlorophyll, and titrable acidity were decreasing during post harvest ripening of tomato fruits. Further studies are required on the effect of storage conditions, cultivar differences and environments on fruit quality parameters.

Keywords: Carotenoid content, fruit quality, Reducing sugars, shelf life, Total acidity, Vitamin C.