PRESERVATION OF TOMATOES USING COMMELINA benghalensis

ABSTRACT

Fresh tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) fruits due to their highly perishable nature need to be preserved to prolong their shelf life. This was attempted with leaves extract of Commelina benghalensis , a plant known to have antimicrobial effect to prolong its shelf life. Fresh tomato fruits were gotten from New Benin market in Benin City, Edo State. Fresh leaves of Commelina benghalensis were weighed as follows: 10 g, 20 g, 30 g in two sets. Each of the weighed portion of the first set was blended in 500 ml of sterile distilled water while the portions of second set boiled in 500 ml of distilled water was allowed to cool. Two fresh healthy looking tomato fruits were immersed for 2 hours and 24 hours in each concentrates. Treatment with sterile distilled water alone served as control. The tomato fruits immersed for 2 hours in the leaf extract produced a better result than the 24 hours concentrate. The concentrate prepared by blending 10 g, 20 g and 30 g of Commelina benghalensis leaves in 500 ml of sterile distilled water in which tomato fruits were soaked for 2 hours gave the best result. It kept the tomato fruits fresh and healthy looking for more than 31 (thirty one) days