Storage stability study of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) paste.

Apart from using different treatments (radiation, freezing, drying and cold storage) to extend shelf-life of fruits and vegetables, simple methods of product development can also be used to ward off spoilage from these commodities and to save the growers from huge economical losses. Tomato paste was prepared by concentration method without heating. In this method, two parts of water (out of three) were removed without using any energy and the product tasted like fresh tomatoes. The product was stored by adding sodium benzoate (0.0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8 and 1.0%). No data was recorded for control due to spoilage of the sample. The data for remaining samples revealed significant increase in pH values (4.61-4.92) with increase in benzoate concentrations, but reduced pHs (4.83-4.71) during a 5-months storage period at ambient temperature. The effect of preservative levels on acidity (ascorbic acid) and browning values was nearly negligible for samples with 1 % sodium benzoate, but the mean ascorbic acid content showed significant reduction from 11.40-5.44 mg/100 g during 5-months storage. However, acidity also increased significantly during storage (0.38-0.68%) with increasing benzoate levels.