Postharvest Quality and Decay Incidence among Tomato Fruit as Affected by Weather and Cultural Practices

IFAS document PP294, one of a series of the Horticultural Sciences Department. — Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. — Original publication date July 2012. Revised September 2015. — 8 pp. Postharvest decay losses for field-grown, fresh-market tomatoes are usually associated with harvests that occur when fields are wet and warm (> 90 o F daytime). During periods of persistently wet fields (plant foliage is continuously wet for 24 hours or longer), decay pathogens infect damaged fruit on the plant as well as injuries to petioles and stems. During harvest, enormous pathogen populations created by these infections spread via picking operations throughout the harvested fruit. Inadvertent harvest-related wounds are particularly vulnerable to infection. Growers and packinghouse managers may have to struggle to salvage their crops.