Postharvest Spoilage of Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) and Control Strategies in Nigeria

Abstract

Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) is a globally grown vegetable fruit, rich in vitamins and minerals. It is used for culinary purposes and in the production of fruit drinks. A total of one million hectares per annum is reportedly used for its cultivation in Nigeria, alone. However, the quality and shelf life of postharvest tomato in Nigeria is hampered by biotic and social economic constraints which affect its nutritional value, and account for10-30% of losses. Amongst the biotic constraints are different species of fungi such as Alternaria, Fusarium, Penicilliun, Aspergillus, Geotrichum, Phytophthora as well as Botrytis, while those of bacteria are Xanthomonas euvesicatoria pv. Xesicatoria, and Clavibacter  michiganensis sub sp. Michiganensis. Some of the social and institutional constraints militating against the control of postharvest losses in tomato include amongst others, ineffective government agencies, lack of credit facilities that address the need of producers, lack of a clear-cut policies to encourage the utilization of human and scientific resources to prevent deterioration of the crop, inadequate institutions that would develop human resources with relevant knowledge in scientific technologies associated with preservation, processing, packaging, transporting, and distribution of food products. The application of biological, chemical and physical methods amongst others can be adopted to control postharvest diseases of tomato. Adopting strategies to reduce postharvest diseases and losses of food is more sustainable and environmentally sound than increasing production areas to compensate for these losses.

Keywords: Tomato, Fungi, Bacteria, Postharvest, Disease Control