EFFECT OF MOISTURE CONTENT ON THE PRESERVATION OF CHEMICALLY PRETREATED CANNED TOMATO PUREE

The effect of moisture content on the preservation of chemically pretreated and canned tomato puree was determined. Three samples labeled A, B, C concentrated to different solid content levels via evaporation, and preserved using 60 mg of sodium meta-bisulphate were investigated. Results revealed that sample ‘C' that was at 90.63% moisture content and 9.37% tomato solids gave the best performance with no bacterium growth and no color (bright red) change. There was no decrease in the weight of sample ‘C' throughout the eight months of storage. Samples ‘A' at 85.20% moisture content and ‘B' at 88.57% moisture content, showed significant changes in weight of tomato puree at 1% level of significance. Although no bacterium growth was observed in samples ‘A' and ‘B', the puree samples underwent color change from bright red to dark brown. The pH for samples ‘A' and ‘B' ranged from 5.0 to 5.4 while for sample ‘C' it ranged from 4.2 to 4.45. The average ambient temperature during the study was 30.5oC.