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International Journal of Horticultural Science

Vol. 32 (2026)
Articles

Effect of fertilizer types and ethylene remediation agents on weight loss and shelf life of stored tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) fruits

Published:
2026-02-19
DOI Linkhttps://doi.org/10.31421/ijhs/32/2026/15967
Authors
A. Oduntan,
O. Ogunleye,
T. Moyosoreoluwa,
O.C. Owolabi,
G. Bodunde
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Keywords
ethylene fertilizer types shelf-life ethylene remediation agents postharvest tomato
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Copyright (c) 2026 International Journal of Horticultural Science

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

How To Cite
Selected Style: APA
Oduntan, A., Ogunleye, O., Moyosoreoluwa, T., Owolabi, O., & Bodunde, G. (2026). Effect of fertilizer types and ethylene remediation agents on weight loss and shelf life of stored tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) fruits. International Journal of Horticultural Science, 32(1), 22-33. https://doi.org/10.31421/ijhs/32/2026/15967
Abstract

This experiment was conducted to determine the influence of fertilizer types and ethylene remediation agents on postharvest shelf-life of tomato fruit. The experiment was conducted at the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Nigeria.  Fruits were produced under four fertilizer treatment levels (Poultry manure, NPK 15:15:15, Poultry manure + NPK 15:15:15 and Control) and were harvested at breaker stage of maturity. The post-harvest treatments consist of eight ethylene remediation agents (ERAs) which includes three levels of 1-Methylcyclopropene (0.1 µL/L 1-MCP, 0.3 µL/L 1-MCP, 0.5 µL/L 1-MCP), two levels of Potassium tetraoxomanganate VII (5% 10% KMnO4), two levels of Zeolite (10 g and 20 g) and Open shelf as control. The parameters observed included fruit weight loss and days to spoilage (1st, 50% and 100%). It was observed that fruits produced with sole poultry manure and NPK 15-15-15 and stored in the media of 5% KMnO4 had a shelf life of 45 days, longer than observed in other fertilizer regimes. Fruits stored in 0.3 µL/L1-MCP, 0.5µL/L1-MCP and 5% KMnO4 concentrations as ERAs had reduced weight loss and delayed spoilage that translated to longer shelf-life. Fruits grown with poultry manure and treated with 0.3 µL/L1-MCP, 0.5µL/L1-MCP and 5% KMnO4 had better performance in terms of fruit firmness and shelf life compared to other treatments. The use of either 1-MCP or 5% KMnO4 is recommended as efficient ethylene scavengers in a storage medium for tomato fruit shelf-life extension.

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