Browsing by Author "Mhina, Erasto Isack"

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Effect of post-harvest handling practices on quantitative losses and qualitative changes of tomato: a case study of Arumeru District
    (Sokoine University of Agriculture, 2012) Mhina, Erasto Isack
    Post-harvest handling practices are of great importance in preventing both qualitative and quantitative losses in tomato which are high in developing countries including Tanzania, yet very few studies have been carried out to establish the nature, types and magnitude of such losses. The present study was carried out to evaluate the effect of post-harvest handling practices on quantitative losses and qualitative changes of tomato in Arumeru District. A total of 134 respondents including farmers, retailers and wholesalers were surveyed and interviewed using structured questionnaire to collect information on existing post-harvest handling practices of tomato in the district while laboratory studies were conducted to establish the physico-chemical changes of tomato along the supply chain. The survey and laboratory data were analyzed by SPSS (16.0) and GenStat (13.3) respectively. The results showed that two tomato varieties commonly grown by farmers were Onyx (53.0%) and Riogrande (47.0%). Majority of farmers (73.0%) harvested tomato in the morning and few (27.0%) in the evening. All farmers (100%) graded their tomato, packaged in wooden crates and transported in open trucks to the markets. The study revealed that farmers produce 10 725 tonnes of tomato per year on average and 724.0, 1438.0 and 999.0 tonnes of tomato are lost per year during harvesting, transportation and marketing respectively. Types of losses experienced along the supply chain were mechanical (1350.2), microbial (1309.7) and physiological (501.8) tonnes respectively. Physico-chemical composition of tomato varied significantly (p<0.05) between varieties and handling stages. Protein ranged from 16.03-19.09, ash 7.56-8.19, fat 0.89-1.7, carbohydrate 71.07-74.00 and reducing sugar 3.40-3.68 g/100 g. Total solids ranged from 4.99-6.35°Brix, acidity 0.63-0.54 g/100 g, pH 4.49-4.67 and vitamin C 28.43-16.88 mg/100 g. Vitamin C showed susceptibility to post-harvest handling practices while /3-carotene and fibre were stable. Extensive training on tomato post- harvest loss reduction is recommended in Arumeru District.