Postharvest behavior and lycopene content of tomatoes at different harvest times

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the physical, chemical and bioactive behavior of the tomatoes of the commercialized tomato at the Central of Supply of Goiás at different times of the year and stored for 15 days in ambient conditions and propose the construction of a model to estimate the content of lycopene from the coloring of the fruits. Seven monthly collections of tomatoes were carried out between February and August. The fruits were evaluated for color, firmness, fresh weight loss, titratable acidity, pH, soluble solids, lycopene, total extractable polyphenols, and antioxidant activity. The variation of brightness and firmness were inversely proportional to the storage time. The linear regression model generated from the correlation between the red color and the lycopene content can be used to estimate the lycopene value of the fruits. Future work may be carried out for developing non-destructive models of determination of lycopene for industrial tomato.