Influence of different soil amendments and cultivar types on postharvest performance of three (3) commercial tomatoes (lycopersicon esculentum, mill)

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Date
2011
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Three (3) tomato (Lycopersicun esculentum, Mill) cultivars (Power (local), Royal (exotic) and Cal. J (exotic) were harvested from fields amended with ‘Asasewura’ cocoa fertilizer (NPK 0-22-18 +9CaO+6s+5MgO(s) at (250kg/ha), Sulphate of ammonia (125kg/ha), poultry manure (1.1kg/ m²) and Control (no amendment) after basal NPK 15-15-15 at 250kg/ha on ‘Asasewura cocoa’ fertilizer and Sulphate of ammonia amended fields. The main study was carried out in the major season (May – August, 2009) after preliminary studies from October to January 2008 at the Department of Horticulture, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi, Ghana. The experiment was conducted to test the influence of different soil amendments and cultivar types on postharvest performance of tomato fruits. Selected quality traits of tomato fruits harvested at the pink colour stage were evaluated after seven (7) days storage under average temperatures of 26.85°C and average relative humidity 85.75%. Significant differences among the cultivar types (P < 0.001) and soil amendments (P < 0.002) were observed in the quality traits selected. Fruits of Royal and Power on average ranked best and least respectively among the cultivar types in postharvest performance among the quality traits evaluated. Fruits harvested from soil amended with NPK plus ‘Asasewura’ cocoa fertilizer on average performed better in postharvest quality than fruits harvested from fields amended with NPK plus Sulphate of ammonia, Poultry manure and Control respectively. Significant interactions were indicated among cultivar types and soil amendment types in fruit total soluble solid (P < 0.016) and pericarp thickness (0.019) but none in other fruit quality traits evaluated. Significant correlations (P < 0.01 and P < 0.05) were observed among the quality traits evaluated. Fruit weight loss showed significantly but negative correlation between fruit firmness (-0.71) and shelf life (-0.71) but indicated significant but positive correlation between membrane ion leakage (0.63) and fruit decay (0.57) respectively. Fruit pericarp thickness showed significant but positive correlation between general appearance (0.69), pericarp weight (0.68) and total soluble solids (0.73).
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A thesis submitted to the Department of horticulture in partial fulfilment of the requirements of Master of Science
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