Effect of calcium chloride and gibberellic acid as post-harvest treatments on quality and shelf life of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L. Var. Srijana) in Chitwan, Nepal

The research entitled, effect of calcium chloride and gibberellic acid as post-harvest treatments on quality and shelf life of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) var. Srijana in Chitwan, Nepal, was conducted to find out the best concentration of calcium chloride (CaCl2) and Gibberellic acid (GA3) for better quality and shelf life of tomato under ambient room conditions (28±5°C, 64% RH). The experiment was laid out in a completely randomized design, which comprised six treatments: control (water), CaCl2 @2%, CaCl2 @4%, CaCl2 @6%, CaCl2 @8%, GA3 @1.5% GA3 @3% each replicated three times. Different postharvest parameters were assessed over a 12-day storage period. Results demonstrated that CaCl2 @4%, CaCl2 @6%, GA3 @1.5%, and GA3 @3% were found to be more effective in maintaining the quality and longer shelf life of tomatoes. On the 12th day of storage, the lowest decay loss was observed with CaCl2 @6% (0), GA3 @3% (0), followed by CaCl2 @4% (6.67%) and GA3 @1.5% (6.67%). The minimum TSS was observed in CaCl2 @4% (3.33˚Brix). Treatments GA3 @1.5% (1.12 kg/cm²), GA3 @3% (1.11 kg/cm²), CaCl2 @4% (1.08 kg/cm²) CaCl2 @6% (0.94 kg/cm²) effectively maintained the firmness of tomatoes fruits. Physiological loss in weight was minimum in CaCl2 @6% (4.50%) which was at par with CaCl2 @4%, GA3 @1.5%, GA3 @3%. Thus, it can be concluded that CaCl2 @4%, CaCl2 @6%, GA3 @1.5%, and GA3 @3% are effective in maintaining post-harvest quality and prolonging the shelf life of tomato. In addition to this, enhance marketability without reliance on cold storage.