Authors: John Carriglio, Dr. Paul Sarnoski
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Paul Sarnoski
College: College of Agricultural and Life Sciences
Cull tomatoes were analyzed for flavor volatiles and microbial load within three thermal treatments, and then compared to previous research on commercial Roma tomatoes. Fresh, hot broken, and typically pasteurized juices were compared within these parameters. Hot breaking (to inactivate degradative tomato enzymes) was performed at 86 ˚C for 3.5 minutes, and typical pasteurization was performed at 73 ˚C for 30 seconds. Fifteen flavor volatiles were chosen for comparison, with taste characteristics including cooked, green, and fruity. To extract volatile compounds, a purge and trap (PT) was used with Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry (GC) analysis. Statistical analysis of differences within cull treatments was performed using one-way ANOVA coupled with Tukey HSD test for mean separation. While microbes were detectable in all pure juice treatments, no bacterial growth was detected when calcium chloride was added to the juices. This research, coupled with additional research in GC and sensory analysis, could determine whether cull tomatoes are viable for industrial juicing.
John,
Very interesting work. I hope there is a way to utilize cull tomatoes. As someone who grew up in the potato business, finding a way to better utilize culls would be very important to all farmers.
Doc W
Dr. Wysocki,
I agree. Even conservative estimates show an immense amount of tomato wastage per year. Unfortunately I was unable to run sensory analysis (because culls are not considered food-safe), but that is an important next step.
Dr. Wysocki,
I agree. Even conservative estimates show an immense amount of wastage. While some of the tomatoes are undoubtedly unusable, most were either slightly misshapen or had not ripened at the right time. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to perform sensory analysis (culls not considered food-safe), so that would be an extremely important next step.
I think your project highlights some important ways that the food industry could use to decrease waste. You mentioned that you weren’t able to perform sensory analysis, what type of sensory analysis would you like to perform?
Hello John,
Terrific presentation. Are there cultivar differences in the the volatile profiles of tomatoes?
Dr. Nunez
Hi Dr. Nunez,
Generally speaking, yes. The paper that I pulled the commercial Roma data from showed some pretty big differences between seasons and cultivars. Because culls are made of an amalgamation of cultivars, I used the Roma data to give some sort of baseline.