UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



JZft*<$&L 



BULLETIN No. 859 



Contribution from the Bureau of Plant Industry 

 WM. A. TAYLOR, Chief 



Washington, D. C. 



September 7, 1920 



THE PROCESS OF RIPENING IN THE TOMATO, CON- 

 SIDERED ESPECIALLY FROM THE COMMERCIAL 

 STANDPOINT. 1 



By Charles E. Sando, 

 formerly Junior Chemist, Horticultural and Pomological Investigations. 



CONTENTS. 



Shipments of early tomatoes to northern 



markets 1 



Growing and handling tomatoes in the field . . 3 



Packing and shipping operations 4 



Previous chemical investigations of the 



tomato 7 



Experimental material 13 



Methods of analysis 15 



Analytical data concerning progressive 



changes in composition during ripening.. 17 



Comparison of the composition of commer- 

 cially picked tomatoes with turning and 



vine-ripened fruit .' 21 



Effect of lack of ventilation on ripening 24 



Summary and conclusions 30 



Literature cited 32 



Appendix. — Comparison of the composition 

 of "puffy" and normal Livingston Globe 

 tomatoes 37 



SHIPMENTS OF EARLY TOMATOES TO NORTHERN MARKETS. 



The shipping of tomatoes grown in Florida to northern markets 

 during the winter and spring months is an exceedingly important 

 industry. In Table I are presented statistics prepared by the 

 Bureau of Crop Estimates and the Bureau of Markets of the United 

 States Department of Agriculture, showing the production and 

 car-lot shipments of the seven States where the early-tomato crop 

 is chiefly grown. 



From the figures shown in Table I it can be seen that Florida 

 ships annually more than half of the total quantity of early tomatoes 

 forwarded from the seven States specified. Statistics show that 



1 This bulletin gives the results of a portion of the work carried on under the project "Factors affecting 

 the storage life of vegetables". The paper was completed after the writer was transferred to the Office 

 of Drug-Plant, Poisonous-Plant, Physiological, and Fermentation Investigations of the Bureau of Plant 

 Industry. 



The writer wishes to express his special indebtedness to Mr. Thomas J. Peters, of Miami, Fla., for pro" 

 viding facilities for the field work and for cooperating in other ways. He desires also to express his thanks 

 and appreciation to Mr. H. H. Bartlett, of the botanical department of the University of Michigan, for 

 counsel and suggestions during the progress of the work. 

 175085°— 20— Bull. 859 1 



