Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: The use of domestic refrigerators for food storage in Nigeria is common to reduce the postharvest loss and retain the nutritional content of the food. But lack of regular power supply from the national grid has necessitated the use of alternative source of generating power for sustainability of food storage. For this reason, this research evaluated and compared the fresh vegetable and fruit quality (mango and tomato) stored under the ambient room temperature (test 1) and in the crisper compartment of a domestic refrigerator powered by solar energy (test 2). The mass loss, total color difference and sensorial analysis were conducted in order to determine the food quality during 10 days of storage. The results showed mass reduction of 58.2%; 22.8% in tomato and 23.57%; 10.65% in mango for test 1 and 2 respectively. The color difference for both storage condition of food was greater than 7 after 10 days and the sensory analysis recorded for the both storage conditions showed a significant difference in tomato preservation after day 3 and after day 6 for mango preservation. The research results presented improved preservation of the mango and tomato when kept inside the crisper compartment of domestic refrigerator as compared to conventional food storage. Briefly, these results can support the general idea of reducing the postharvest loss of food by preservation in the domestic refrigerator.
Authors: Alabi A. A., Adeyeye T. A., Adejumobi A. O.
Language: English
Subfield: Plant Science
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W4409703501