Effects of 1-methylcyclopropene treatment on postharvest life and quality in four tomatoes cultivars

The effects of 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) on postharvest quality in four tomato cultivars ('601', '602', '603' and 'Target') were determined during storage. Tomatoes were harvested at pink stages and divided into two lots per each cultivar. One of the lots was exposed to 1000nl l-1 1-MCP doses for 24 h at 20°C while untreated fruits were considered as control. Thereafter, fruits were stored at 10°C and 90% RH for 21 days. During storage weight loss, elasticity, skin color, soluble solid content (SSC), titratable acidity (TA), ripening index (SSC/TA), lycopene and ascorbic acid were measured. The results indicated that in all of the four cultivars, 1-MCP treatment significantly delayed the development of skin color, inhibited the increase of lycopene synthesis and ripening index (SSC/TA) corresponds to tomato fruit ripening. 1-MCP treatment provided better results across all the tested cultivars. Especially, Target cultivar was more responsive to 1-MCP in terms of quality maintenance and storage life extension.