Document Type : Research Paper
Author
Instructor, Research Center of Agriculture and Natural Resourses of Hamedan.
Abstract
Background and Objectives
Tomato is a climacteric vegetable crop with a high ability of ethylene production. Approximately, 30% of tomatoes is lost during the harvest to consumption chain yearly. Accumulation of C2H4 gas in the storage atmosphere accelerates fruit ripening, thus, it is an important problem during tomato storage.
Materials and methods
In this study, conducted at the agricultural research center of Hamadan during the 2012-2013, various nano Ag-coated TiO2 concentrations in slurry form of TiO2 (0, 4, 8 and 12 g/l) were used to delay the ripening time of harvested tomatos which were irradiated with a UV lamp., Tomatoes (cv Halil) were then harvested at breaker stage of ripening.
Results
The results dpppemonstrated that in the absence of ultraviolet light, and proportional to the concentration of the solution, titanium dioxide was able to decpmpose 26 to 90 percent of the ethylene produced by tomatoes. Ethylenereduction caused increasing texture firmness between 16 to 72%, decreasing color change surface of tomatos from orange to red up to 24%, along with 2 weeks delay in ripening time of orange tomatoes compared to control.
Discussion
Exposure to 5 W/m2 UV radiation or nanosilver particles with a 12 g/l titanium dioxide solution showed the same effect on the accumulated ethylene, texture firmness and color in tomatoes. According to this research, UV radiation or nanosilver particles ara essential for activation of TiO2 photocatalitic reaction.
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