Field study about measuring antioxidant levels in tomatoes.

Control and measurement of the levels of healthy phytochemicals is extremely important in tomato production. Physiological and biochemical changes could affect nutritional properties of the vegetable. 

Scientists from Egypt and Saudi Arabia, Alenazia et al. examined the effectiveness of near-infrared spectrometers to alter accurate yet difficult experimental techniques to analyze antioxidants. They choose the Felix F-750 Produce Quality Meter for their experiment, as the standard near-infrared spectroscopy tool.

The traditional methods of quality evaluation are destructive and do not give timely information on internal quality, so the scientists were searching for non-destructive methods. They wanted to try the best existing way to analyze internal tomato phytochemical quality onsite. 

They tested the methods on the ‘Red Rose’ variety. With an aim to define quality traits, the scientists created a training set using some samples of the fruits. Then, using the Model builder by Felix Instruments Applied Food Science, they created a specific model for “Red Rose” using the fruit quality values from the training set.

A single device that combines all necessary features. They used the portable F-750 Produce Quality Meter, which proved to be a good non-destructive NIR spectrometer. It performed an accurate and rapid analysis of several quality parameters which are combined in a single device. 

It was able to simultaneously estimate firmness and the levels of lycopene, total phenolic content, β-carotene and total flavonoids content. Individual readings were made in seconds and displayed on the device.

The scientists made a conclusion that the maturity at which tomatoes are harvested has an impact on the levels of antioxidants the fruits accumulate when grown in controlled conditions. Also, there are changes in the quality of the fruits post-harvest, and this can be measured by NIR spectroscopy.

The conclusion of the experiment is that a standard commercial NIRS tool, F-750, is able to measure antioxidants as a quality parameter. Now producers can raise their profits if they objectively demonstrate the nutritional advantage of their fresh produce.

These results can improve quality control and profitability of suppliers, growers, and processors of tomatoes. In addition, the new application is suitable to measure antioxidants in the supply chain of other vegetables and fruits.

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