Effect of Aloe vera (Aloe vera (l.) Burm. F.) based edible coating compared to beeswax coating on shelf life and quality attributes of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum l.) at cold room

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is an important cash crop and a seasonal crop with high nutritional and antioxidant properties where the surplus production is not preserved due to inadequate application of postharvest techniques in Sri Lanka. Tomato is highly perishable which has a storage life of seven days at ambient condition. There is a high production of tomato during the time of harvest. But postharvest processing and preservation techniques are inefficient. Therefore, tomato fruits spoil very early due to lack of usage for preservation and processing techniques. ‘Bathiya’ tomato variety was used in this study to evaluate the effect of Aloe vera (Aloe vera (L.) Burm. F.) based edible coating and commercial beeswax coating together with passive modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) on shelf life and quality attributes of tomato at cold room conditions (13±1 °C, RH ≈ 65%-85%). Variations in percentage weight loss, percentage disease incidence, ascorbic acid content, lycopene content, pH, firmness, titrable acidity, total soluble solid content were evaluated throughout the storage period at different time intervals. It was found that, A. vera edible coating was significantly effective in delaying disease incidence and increase in lycopene content compared to beeswax coating. However, beewax coating was significantly effective in delaying ripening with regards to ascorbic acid content and titratable acidity compared to A. vera coating. Further, percentage weight loss, pH, firmness were significantly affected by both edible coatings. Total soluble solid (TSS) content was not affected by edible coatings. Further, A. vera edible coating is more cost effective than beeswax coating. However, A. vera and beeswax coating with passive MAP can be used to extend the shelf life of tomato up to 49 days with better quality attributes while the non-coated tomatoes with passive MAP extended the shelf life only up to 35 days at cold room conditions.