Influence of Partially Burnt Rice Hull (PBRH) Soil Amendment on Physical Damage Tolerance and Postharvest Loss Reduction in Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum var. Platinum L.)

Purpose: Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is a major vegetable crop grown in Sri Lanka. However, their extreme perishability during harvesting, handling, transportation, and storage leads to significant postharvest loss and quality deterioration. This study evaluated the effects of soil amendment with partially burned rice hull (PBRH) on tomato firmness, quality, and tolerance to physical damage.
Research Method: Three ratios of PBRH were applied: R0 (control), R1 (0.3 kg m^-2), and R2 (0.6 kg m^-2) in tomato grown in Suriyawewa, Hambantota district, Sri Lanka. The fruits were harvested at the colour-breaker and pink maturity stages. Fruit quality parameters and storage quality were evaluated at room temperature under refrigerated conditions.
Findings and Values: The R2 treatment significantly improved tomato quality, resulting in the highest fruit weight (colour breaker: 47.49±0.01 g, pink: 46.73±0.01 g), overall firmness (colour breaker: 6.42±0.01 N, pink: 5.94±0.01 N), longest shelf-life (14.0±0.2 days) and lower weight loss (0.88% at room temperature and 0.30% in cold storage) and reduced firmness loss (17.52% at room temperature and 13.88% in cold storage) after 14 days. Additionally, R2 tomatoes showed delayed ripening, improved drop resistance for up to 10 days, and enhanced quality retention with a lower weight loss percentage (0.41%) and the highest overall firmness (5.77±0.01 N) with an ethylene adsorbent. This study highlighted the use of an optimum dosage of rice hull as a soil amendment to enhance the quality of tomatoes and reduce postharvest losses.