Investigation of vacuum pressure and storage time on the quality of tomato and carrot

In this research, the effect of vacuum pressure and storage time were investigated on the postharvest quality of tomato and carrot. Three levels of vacuum pressure, 0.6, 0.4 and 0.2 bar were considered and during 12 days of carrot storage every three days and during 20 days of tomato storage every five days the sampling were performed. The effects of these treatments on the factors such as weight loss, firmness, soluble solids, titrable acidity and pH in carrots and tomatoes were investigated as factorial test based on Completely Randomized Design. Analysis of variance results showed that the effect of vacuum pressure and storage time on all mentioned factors were significant. Weight loss of both products was low at vacuum pressure of 0.4 bar. Also, tirable acidity and pH of these products were preserved better at vacuum pressure of 0.4 bar. The highest firmness was observed at vacuum pressure of 0.4 bar. Based on the results, storage of these two products at high vacuum pressure (0.6 bar) reduced the quality. In general, vacuum pressure of 0.4 bar was resulted in higher storage time of tomato and carrot.