Interpreting textural changes in low temperature stored tomatoes

• Chilling-induced softening of tomatoes can be hard to separate from ripening.
• Internal pericarp puncture is the best textural technique to separate ripening from chilling.
• Chilling injury (CI) causes tomato softening independent of ripening.

Low temperature storage alters tomato textural properties, resulting in unusual changes in firmness, while ripening during cool storage can confound these chilling-induced textural changes. Inconsistent results have been reported related to chilling-induced alteration in tomato texture. The effects of chilling on tomato texture were investigated using fruit stored at 2.5 or 6 °C (chilled) or 20 °C (non-chilled) for 27 d before transfer to 20 °C. Given that many factors influence the firmness of chilling-injured tomato and different measurement methods indicate different characteristics of tomato texture, the present study employed a range of textural measurement techniques in order to interpret chilling-induced textural changes in tomatoes during long term storage. Analysis of data from a range of textural methods indicated that storage at 6 °C mainly induced loss of turgor whereas 2.5 °C induced loss of tissue integrity along with turgor loss. Plotting textural changes against colour as an indicator of ripening allowed a clearer definition of chilling-induced textural change.