The effect of temperature on the quality of tomato and eggplant fruits during distribution

The temperature of tomato and eggplant fruit was measured during distribution from harvest in Fukuoka to arrival at a wholesale market in Tokyo. There were three critical points to be improved where the fresh produces were possibly exposed to high temperature. First, the produce temperature remarkably rised before pre-cooling, and at this point, the temperature reached the maximum. Second, after pre-cooling, the fresh produces were again warmed during sorting and packaging in the packing house in which the temperature was not controlled. Third, the temperature increased in the packing house was remained in the truck. Using the experimental data simulated the temperature during distribution, the effect of temperature changes on the internal quality of fresh produces was examined. The results showed that the temperature changes remarkably decreased the organic acid and sugar contents of the fresh produces while the firmness was little affected. Therefore, it is considered that the fresh produces should be consistently kept at low temperature by improving the critical points during distribution in order to preserve the internal quality of fresh produces.