International Journal of Horticulture, 2025, Vol.15, No.2, 51-60 http://hortherbpublisher.com/index.php/ijh 56 GA3) (Table 4). As the acidity decreases with ripening, pH is bound to increase. Therefore, on 25th day, pH levels were comparatively increased than on the 15th day in all the remaining treatments where tomatoes treated with CaCl2 had the lowest pH values. This relationship between acidity and pH is explained by Demes et al. (2021) by stating that the fluctuations in pH can be attributed to the decreasing levels of acidity caused by the increased activity of citric acid glyoxylase during ripening. Table 4 Effects of different treatments on pH after 15th DAS Treatment code Treatments pH T1 0.1%GA3 4.16 T2 0.2%GA3 3.87 T3 0.3%GA3 3.65 T4 0.5%CaCl2 4.43 T5 1%CaCl2 4.48 T6 1.5%CaCl2 4.42 T7 0.1mMSA 3.85 T8 0.2mMSA 3.86 T9 0.3mMSA 3.67 T10 Control 4.53 SE±M - 0.21 LSDat 5% - 0.44 CV% - 6.3 Note: SE±M = Standard error of differences of mean, LSD = Least significant difference, CV = Coefficient of variation, DAS= Days after storage 3.5 Ascorbic acid The effects of GA3, CaCl2, and SA on the ascorbic acid content of tomatoes during the storage period of fruits are shown in Table 5. There was a significant difference in ascorbic acid content among the treated fruits and untreated fruits (p<0.001). Treatments T1 (0.1% GA3), T3 (0.3% GA3), and T6 (1.5% CaCl2) retained higher amounts of ascorbic acid valued at 14.23, 11.73, and 11.43 mg/100g of tomato fruit, where the maximum retention was observed in T1. A similar pattern was observed on the 25th day, even with increased ripening and increased degradation of ascorbic acid, among the remaining treatments (T1, T2, T3, T4, T5, and T6) T1 managed to retain higher ascorbic acid (12.5 mg/100 g) than the control set had in the 15th day. While the other treatments had ascorbic content levels ranging from 6.89 to 7.75 mg/100 g. Table 5 Effects of different treatments on Ascorbic acid (mg/100 g) after 15th DAS Treatment code Treatments Ascorbic acid (mg/100 g) T1 0.1%GA3 14.23 T2 0.2%GA3 11.15 T3 0.3%GA3 11.73 T4 0.5%CaCl2 9.87 T5 1%CaCl2 10.01 T6 1.5%CaCl2 11.43 T7 0.1mMSA 9.59 T8 0.2mMSA 9.49 T9 0.3mMSA 10.36 T10 Control 9.18 SE±M - 0.26 LSDat 5% - 0.55 CV% - 3.0 Note: SE±M = Standard error of differences of mean, LSD = Least significant difference, CV = Coefficient of variation, DAS= Days after storage
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