Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) fruits, 'Solar Set' and 'Agriset -- 743', were harvested at the mature-green stage of development and treated with 100 muL L-1 ethylene at 20°C. At the breaker stage, fruits were dropped from 40 cm height to induce internal bruising and stored along with undropped fruits at 20°C and 85-95% RH. At the table-ripe stage, whole fruits were chopped in a food processor and a sensory analysis test was immediately performed. The experimental design employed was a completely randomized blocks scheme arranged with 22 panelists (blocks), 3 treatments (unbruised sample; bruised sample 1 and bruised sample 2) and 4 replicates (ten fruits each). Data were subjected to analysis of variance and differences among treatments were determined by the F test (P= 0.05). Panelists were able to distinguish between bruised and unbruised fruits which indicated that internal bruising caused by impact altered tomato flavor.
Lycopersicon esculentum; sensory analysis; mechanical damage; post-harvest
