Identification of appropriate maturation stages and postharvest treatment for tomato fruits of the "Pearson" variety for local and distant markets.

This study was conducted under ambient conditions at the research farm of the Agriculture Faculty at Kabul University, Afghanistan. The objectives were to identify suitable harvesting maturity stages for tomato crop that will result in adequate shelflife of tomato fruits for local and distant markets. The results indicated that fruits of the turning color stage treated with 6 % CaCU solution had the best quality and highest shelflife (17.5 days) compared to other treatments. Based on the significant main effect, the 15.38 and 14.17 days' highest shelflife was recorded for tomatoes of Hi (turning color stage) and Di (dipped in 6 % CaCF solution), respectively. The TSS (°Brix) and PLW (%) were increased till the end of storage life, but the tomato fruits' firmness (g cm"2) decreased. Hence, the lowest values were noted as 4.79 and 4.74 (°brix) TSS and 3.31 and 2.93 (%) PLW, but the highest firmness of 932.50 and 854.17 (g cm"2) were recorded for fruits of Hi (turning color stage) and Di (dipped in 6 % CaCL solution), respectively. The turning color, pink color and light red color stage fruits of the Pearson variety are recommended to be harvested and considered for distant market, local market and immediate use, respectively. And the 6 % CaCL solution could increase shelflife and maintain tomato's quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]