Quality of tomato fruits harvested using traditional bamboo baskets was compared to fruits harvested using harvest bags in the Mogi Guaçu region, São Paulo State, Brazil. Fruits not submitted to handling were used as control. The trial was totally randomized (harvest system x days after harvest) in a factorial design. The observed data were time spent for each harvest operation, mechanical injury (%) caused either in the field or/and in the process of harvesting, weight loss (%) during storage and final quality of fruits after storage for 21 days at room temperature (23ºC). The time necessary for the harvest with bamboo baskets was 20% higher than using plastic bags. The results showed that weight loss (%) and injury incidence (%) using harvesting bags were higher than the harvest using bamboo baskets. Weight loss (%) was higher in fruits harvested with plastic bags during storage. After storage during 21 days, tomatoes harvested using plastic bag showed higher losses than fruits picked using bamboo baskets due to mainly mechanical injury and diseases.
Lycopersicon esculentum; bamboo basket; harvesting bags; mechanical injury; fruit quality
