International Journal of Horticulture, 2025, Vol.15, No.2, 51-60 http://hortherbpublisher.com/index.php/ijh 51 Research Article Open Access Impact of Exogenous Gibberellic Acid, Salicylic Acid, and Calcium Chloride on Tomato Fruit's Postharvest Quality and Shelf Life Priya Dhital 1 , Krish Rauniyar2, Chudamani Bhattarai 3 1 Himalayan College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology (HICAST), Purbanchal University, Kirtipur, Kathmandu, 5600, Nepal 2 Faculty of Agriculture, Himalayan College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology (HICAST), Purbanchal University, Kirtipur, Kathmandu, 5600, Nepal 3 Prime Minister Agriculture Modernization Project (PMAMP), PIU Bhaktapur, 44800, Nepal Corresponding author: priyadhital.agri@gmail.com International Journal of Horticulture, 2025, Vol.15, No.2 doi: 10.5376/ijh.2025.15.0006 Received: 15 Dec., 2024 Accepted: 22 Jan., 2025 Published: 30 Mar., 2025 Copyright © 2025 Dhital et al., This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Preferred citation for this article: Dhital P., Rauniyar K., and Bhattarai C., 2025, Impact of exogenous gibberellic acid, salicylic acid, and calcium chloride on tomato fruit's postharvest quality and shelf life, International Journal of Horticulture, 15(2): 51-60 (doi: 10.5376/ijh.2025.15.0006) Abstract Tomatoes are vital to Nepalese agriculture, but inadequate post-harvest management, lack of cold storage facilities and inefficient transportation infrastructure lead to significant losses. This study evaluates the shelf life and quality of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) fruit cv. ‘Shrijana’ stored at ambient condition after post-harvest, exogenous treatment with GA3 (O.1%, 0.2%, and 0.3%), SA (0.1 mM, 0.2 mM and 0.3 mM), And CaCl2 (0.5%, 1%, and 1.5%). A Completely Randomized Design (CRD) comprising ten treatments with three replications was executed and the statistical analysis of data was completed using GenStat and Microsoft Excel. The tested fruits were stored at room temperature of an average of (26.9±2) °C (dry) and (20.5±2) °C (wet). The data on quality parameters was collected after 15 days of storage and 25 days of storage. All the tested treatments indicated a significant delay in titratable acidity and ascorbic acid degradation, and maintenance of lower pH in tomato fruits as compared to the control. The statistical result revealed that among the treatments, at 15 days of storage, the maximum retention of titratable acidity (0.58%) and ascorbic acid (14.23 mg/100 g) was observed in T1 (0.1% GA3). With the increasing storage period, the ripening progressed, marked by the declined values of acidity, and ascorbic acid along with increased TSS values on the 25th day. It was concluded that postharvest treatments are significant in maintaining the chemical qualities, shelf life (28.72 days), and marketable fruit% of the tomatoes harvested at the turning and pink stage. Treatment with 0.1% GA3 significantly influenced the chemical qualities and maximum shelf life of tomato. This study provides low-cost and efficient solutions for tomato postharvest management in developing countries. Keywords Exogenous treatments; Postharvest quality; Tomato; Gibberellic acid; Salicylic acid; Calcium chloride; Shelf life 1 Introduction Solanum lycopersicumis an annual crop and one of the popular fresh vegetables grown in tropical, subtropical, and temperate climates of Nepal. Alongside cauliflower, cabbage, broccoli and radish, tomato is also among the fresh vegetables grown the most in terms of area and productivity in Nepal (MoALD, 2023). It is a plant with angular and hairy stem, pinnately compound leaves that are lobed and alternate and flowers are borne in clusters on the main axis and on lateral branches (Mallick, 2021). Its fruit is globular/ovoid and may be either bilocular or multilocular consisting of about 50 to 200 seeds enclosed in a gelatinous membrane within the locular cavities (OECD, 2017). Nutritionally, tomato is rich in various vitamins such as Vitamins A, C, and K and carotenoids such as lycopene and carotene which act as antioxidants (Esguerra and Rolle, 2018). It is used for several purposes such as multiple culinary uses (salad, pickle, cooked vegetable, sauce, ketchup) while its high acidic content makes it popular for canning (Bhandari et al., 2016). It is a highly perishable climacteric vegetable that over ripens and softens quickly leading to decreased quality and limited shelf life (Batu, 2004). During the recent fiscal year, the area of production of tomato has increased up to 22 911 hectares and resulted in a total production of 422 703 metric tonnes i.e., yield of 18.45 Mt/Ha (MoALD, 2023). The tomato industry has experienced a significant surge in consumption and demand, correlating with increased production. Particularly in the hilly areas where plastic house and off-season production during summer rainy seasons are trending with comparative advantages (Ghimire et al., 2017). Despite the promising demand, abundant opportunities, and
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