Seed quality affects postharvest characteristics of tomato fruits (<i>Solanum lycopersicum</i>)

Abstract

The use of quality tomato seeds does not only ensure good germination, optimum crop establishment and yield but also guarantee good postharvest characteristics such as fruit uniformity and enhanced shelf life. The present study sought to establish the relationship between poor seed quality and some postharvest fruit quality characteristics such as fruit shapes and fruit shelf life. The percentage mean occurrence of varied fruit shapes harvested from the same farmer's field ranged from 2.4% to 47.6% in the Forest zone and from 3.3 to 21.6% in the Forest- Transition zone of Ghana. Generally, four to nine different fruit shape categories were identified across farmers' fields in both the Forest and Forest-Transition zones. The percentage weight loss after 15 days of storage under ambient condition for the flattened fruit shape was as high as 90% while the oblong shape fruit recorded 56% within the same duration. Smallholder tomato farmers are encouraged to use high quality seeds for uniform fruit

Keywords: tomato, seed quality, postharvest, water retention