2.6.3. Physicochemical Properties

The hardness of cherry tomatoes was measured using a GY 2 handheld hardness meter (Minks Testing Equipment Co., Ltd., Xi'an, China). Hardness values were determined as maximum force registered in the force vs. time curves. Measurements were made on five fruits per experimental unit.

Color parameters (L\*, a\*, b\*) of cherry tomatoes were measured using a CR20 colorimeter (Konica Minolta Sensing Inc, Tokyo, Japan). For each experimental unit, 10 tomatoes were measured and the results are presented as ΔE [18].

Cherry tomatoes (125 g) were homogenized with distilled water (125 mL) for 5 min using a high shear mixing homogenizer, and the pH of the mixture was determined using an FE20 digital pH meter (Mettler Toledo, Zurich, Switzerland).

The weight of cherry tomatoes was recorded at the initial day and sampling day by using an AUY220 analytical balance (Shimadzu Corporation, Kyoto, Japan). The weight loss (%) was calculated following the method described by Araguez et al. [19].

The total soluble solid (TSS) content of cherry tomatoes was determined using an AR 2008 Abbe refractometer (Kruess, Hamburg, Germany). A drop of clear tomato juice obtained by squeezing the fruit in a muslin cloth was placed in the reading chamber, and the value of TSS was read (%) [20].

The content of vitamin C (VC) was determined using a UV1601 spectrophotometer (Rayleigh Analytical Instruments Co., Ltd., Beijing, China) following the method reported by Hou et al. [21]. The VC content was calculated and expressed as mg per 100 g of sample based on weight.
