Ripening of tomato fruits at reduced atmospheric and partial oxygen pressures

Abstract

STORAGE at reduced atmospheric pressure and low temperature is used to retard the post-harvest senescence of fruits, vegetables, cut flowers, and cuttings^1–3. The effect of this low pressure storage (LPS) has mainly been ascribed to reduction of the internal concentration of the senescence-accelerating gas ethylene⁴, although occasionally effects of a lowered partial oxygen tension($P_{{\text{o}}_{\text{2}}}$) have also been reported^5–7, to determine the contribution of the reduction in $P_{0_2}$ to the total effect of LPS on the retardation of post-harvest senescence, we studied the course of ripening of tomato fruits at different atmospheric and partial oxygen pressures, with and without absorbing the ethylene produced. We report that both the onset and the rate of the ripening process are determined by the oxygen pressure, irrespective of the atmospheric pressure and the absorption of endogenously evolved ethylene.