Effects of High Relative Humidity on Weight Loss, Color Change, and Microbial Activity of Tomatoes during Refrigerated Storage

The effects of high relative humidity (RH) on the physicochemical properties and microbial activity of mature green tomatoes ('Dombito') during refrigerated storage were determined at three temperatures (5, 10, and $15^{\circ}C$) and four different RH levels (91, 94, 97, and 99%). At each temperature, the weight loss rates of tomatoes at different levels of RH were significantly (p<0.05) different from each other. For the samples stored at $10^{\circ}C$, the weight losses were generally higher than those for the samples at $15^{\circ}C$ within the same RH level (i.e., greater vapor pressure deficit). The color change rates ('a' value) showed positive slopes, indicating that the tomato color was changing from green to red. Neither bacteria nor fungi caused visible damages to the samples, and the microbial counts were below 650 colony forming units/$cm^2$ during the test period.