Postharvest deterioration of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) and associated effects on antioxidant bioactive contents

Postharvest storage effects of tomato on antioxidant bioactive compounds and its spoilage was investigated from its lipophilic and hydrophilic extracts and studied using standard microbiological methods. Fungal species of Penicillium sp., Aspergillus niger and yeast sp. (Candida sp.) with total load from 3.90×10³ to 9.02×10⁷ CFU g^-1 FW and bacterial species of Enterobacter sakazakii, Acinetobacter iwoffii, Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, Klebsiella pneumonia, Klebsiella planticola, Pantoea agglomerans, Pseudomonas aeroginosa and Chrombacterium sp. with total load of 1.70×10⁴ to 1.01×10⁸ CFU g^-1 FW were isolated and identified responsible for tomato spoilage. Microbial spoilage resulted in increase in colony forming units and 52.37% loss in vitamin C content. Lycopene biosynthesis was enhanced up to a maximum of 38.45 mg kg^-1 during storage. Pronounced increase was observed in total phenols reaching 2.29 times at the end of storage whereas antioxidant activityRSQUOs increase was 40%.