TOMATO STORAGE – TRADITIONAL AND PROMISING TECHNOLOGIES

As known, tomatoes contain a fairly large amount of biologically valuable substances in their composition. Consumers prefer tomatoes in fresh form. However, being a climacteric crop, tomatoes differ during storage and maturation by a high rate of respiration and evaporation of moisture, which leads to a decrease in valuable nutrients, deterioration in quality, over-ripening and rapid aging, which as a result reduces the marketable appearance of products. Traditional methods of processing tomatoes before storage are not always effective enough to maintain the quality of tomato fruits at the proper level, since it is not always possible to store tomatoes at the recommended low temperature, the necessary relative humidity, etc. In order to increase the storage time of tomatoes while maintaining their quality and safety, it is necessary to search for new modern methods of fruit processing before storage. In this regard, an overview of existing traditional technologies, as well as modern and promising techniques and methods for preparing fresh tomatoes for storage, contributing to the reduction of quantitative losses, preserving qualitative characteristics, is carried out. The most promising methods of preliminary preparation of tomatoes for storage, providing a high level of physical-chemical, organoleptic and microbiological indicators that ensure the safety of stored products are: treatment with ethylene biosynthesis inhibitors and ethylene absorbers, ozonation, modified gas atmosphere, electric field and ultrasound treatment, the use of biological products, the use of active packaging, antimicrobial film-forming coatings, etc. The article describes the work of both domestic and foreign researchers. Keywords: FRESH TOMATOES, PROCESSING, STORAGE TECHNOLOGY, QUALITY