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Introduction
Tomato is very popular and widely consumed throughout the world. It can be eaten raw and cooked. They are used to prepare soup, juice ketchup, pickle, pasta and powder. Tomato is also popular because it is a promising source of vitamin C and adds variety of colors and flavors to the food.1 Dried tomato juice is rich in vitamin C. It is also considered to be intestinal antiseptic,anti-diabetic and also reduced heart disease. Depending on age groups, the requirement for vitamin C and vitamin A is about 30-40 mg/ 100mg and 2500-3000 mg /100mg thus daily consumption of 100g tomato, the requirement of vitamin C and vitamin A respectively will be met up. The perish ability of tomato is very high i.e. shelf life is very short. Soextension of shelf life of tomato is required.
The shelf life of any fruit consists of ripening and senescence.2 After harvest, fruits undergo many physiological and biochemical changes. The shelf life of fruits could be prolonged significantly through slowing down the process leading to ripening and controlling the microbial decay.3-6 Information regarding the extension of storage life of tomato through the treatment of natural coatings in Bangladesh is very scanty. Artificial preservatives and chemicals are often very injurious to health in the long term. The present study has been undertaken to extend the storage life (Shelf life) and to reduce the spoilage of tomato caused by various factors without changing its quality. In this study, the aim is to observe the effect of natural coating of aloe vera, olive oil and pectin on delaying ripening of tomatoes and increasing the shelf life. Aloe vera has given good results in increasing shelf life of fruits previously.7-10
The ripening of fruits is influenced by auxins, ethylene, brassinosteroids and SBA. In climacteric fruits, including tomato, avocado, peach and apple, ripening is marked by a respiratory burst linked to the production of ethylene.11,12
There are five lipoxygenases (TomloxA, TomloxB,TomloxC, TomloxD, and TomloxE) available in tomatoes Lycopersicon esculentum). Lipoxygenases play vital role in disrupting chloroplast thylakoid membranes. This is required for thetransformation from chloroplast to chromoplastduring fruit ripening. The substrate for LOX is usually believed to be unesterified polyunsaturated fatty acids produced from complex lipids through the...