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sur le développement des zones arides et semi-arides

Titre : Assessment of postharvest losses in tomato during transportation and storage in Oman.

Auteur : Al-Dairiyah, Mai Khalfan Salim

Université de soutenance : Sultan Qaboos University

Grade : Master of Science (MS) in Agricultural Engineering 2020

Résumé partiel
One-third of all food produced globally is lost due to postharvest losses. Transportation is particularly essential to distribute fresh produce during postharvest supply chain, but the effect of vibration, duration and distance during transport can cause high internal and surface damage to fresh produce. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate postharvest losses in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) during transportation in the Sultanate of Oman and to develop a mathematical model to estimate the whole changes in tomato quality as affected by transportation and storage. Tomato was transported from three different distances (100 km, 154 km and 205 km) from local farm and delivered to the laboratory to undergo physical, chemical and nutritional quality analysis. Tomato was stored at two different temperature (10°C and 22°C) for 12 days. During transport, 3- Axis USB Vibration/Acceleration Data Logger was used to record the data related to vibration. Two factorial balanced analysis of variance (ANOVA) and analysis of regression were performed using SPSS software. The results of vibration showed that the maximum number of peaks was found mostly in the acceleration interval of 0.99- 1.17 g. Over 40% of accelerations occurred in the range of 0.82-1.31g of all transport distances. Laboratory experiment showed that all physical quality analysis like weight loss and firmness were highly affected by transport distance, storage temperature and storage period. The reduction in weight loss and firmness was the highest in tomato transported from the longest distance and stored at 22°C with 6.91% and 58.39% respectively. Lightness, yellowness and hue values showed a high reduction as transport distance increase particularly in tomato stored at 22°C. In addition, redness, total color change and color indices (CI and COL) increased significantly on tomato transported from 205 km and stored at both storage temperatures. Regarding chemical analysis, pH, total soluble solid (TSS) and sugar:acid ratio were largely affected by storage condition and duration but not by transporting distance. However, titratable acidity was significantly affected by all investigated factors. Titratable acidity (TA) was lower in tomato transported form the longest distance and stored at 22°C with 0.25% followed by 0.26% in tomato transported from medium and short distance. Lycopene and carotenoids were highly affected by all studied factors.

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