Effects of Storage Period on Some Nutritional Properties of Orange and Tomato

Abstract

Fruit and vegetables are important sources of digestible carbohydrates, minerals and vitamins, particularly vitamins A and C. The samples of orange and tomato fruits used for this study were stored in the pot-in-pot evaporative cooler for 21 days during which tests carried out to quantify some nutritional parameters of moisture, ash, protein, lipid, vitamin C, carbohydrate and total sugar contents were assessed periodically. The study revealed that there were continuous decreases in the quality parameters, such as vitamin C content from 3.30 to 0.00% for tomato and 7.52 to 0.49% for orange, lipid content from 0.22 to 0.00% for tomato and 0.29 to 0.07% for orange, carbohydrate content from 23.47 to 4.19% for tomato and 12.23 to 9.53% for orange, protein content for tomato ranged between 0.05 and 0.01% for tomato and 0.18 to 0.04% and total sugar content for tomato ranged from 0.43 to 0.14% and for 0.65 to 0.25%, while the value of moisture content increased from 74.77% and 85.32% for tomato and orange, respectively, with increase in storage period.