Post-Harvest Processing and Preservative Technology of Tomato – A Review

Abstract

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is an important crop grown and consumed worldwide. It provides a wide variety of nutrients and many health-related benefits to the human body. Tomato productions could be a very good vehicle for improving the livelihoods of small-scale producers by creating jobs, serving as source of income for both rural and peri-urban dwellers and also serve as food security. Despite all these benefits, many constraints make tomato production unprofitable, among which post-harvest loses, is one of such constraints. Processed tomato can be used as animal feed supplements and non-food uses. It had been established that processing of tomato has little or no effect on its nutritional content but rather enhanced it. Tomato can make people healthier and decrease the risk of cancer, osteoporosis and cardiovascular diseases. Based on the report of the review, consumption of whole tomato and its byproducts should be preferentially recommended because of greater consistency of documented positive outcomes with the whole tomato and the concomitant supply of other important essential nutrients and nonessential nutrient-like bioactive substances. Research into value-added tomato-based products with innovative flavors and ingredients, convenient meal-component sauces and natural products should be carried out to provide suitable processing conditions to industry with attendant assurance improved tomato quality and safety.