Salicylic Acid Treatments for Extending Postharvest Quality of Tomatoes Maintained at Different Storage Temperatures

Abstract

Salicylic acid (SA) is known to be an effective tool on extending the postharvest quality of horticultural commodities by preventing synthesis and movement of ethylene. Thus, the present study was established to study the effect of different dozes of SA treatments (0.5 mM, 1.0 mM and 2.0 mM) on extending postharvest quality of pink maturity tomatoes maintained at two different storage conditions (5 °C with 90% relative humidity and 20 °C with 65% relative humidity). SA treatment at all doses significantly retarded weight loss at both storage conditions. SA treated tomatoes were firmer, higher in titratable acidity, and exhibited less biochemical changes than the control fruit at the end of storage. Among the applied dozes, SA at 2 mM can be recommended as it was pioneering for most of the parameters analyzed during cold storage at both 5 °C for 20 d and at 20 °C for 10 d. SA treatment may be recommended as an environmental friendly, healthy and sustainable method for extending postharvest quality of tomatoes cold storage and shelf life, without significant adverse effect on produces.