Fungal Endophytes in Shelf Life Extension of Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) Fruits

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is one of the most popular and widely consumed vegetables worldwide. However, tomato fruits are of a highly perishable nature, with a short shelf life of between 12 to 72 hours. The aim of this study was to investigate the potential of fungal endophytes in shelf-life extension of tomato fruits. Fungal endophytes were isolated from healthy leaves and fruits of tomato and identified. Shelf life extension of the tomato fruits was carried out by soaking the fruits in the broth cultures of the test endophytes for an hour. The control reatment was soaked in sterile distilled water. The isolated fungal endophytes were identified as Aspergillus ochraceus (from fruit) and Aspergillus niger (from leave). The results obtained show that the endophytes have potential in shelf life extension of the treated fruits. At day 2, all the fruits treated with the test endophytes were very marketable compared to the control that had 66.6 % moderately marketable and 33.3 % of the fruits marketable. At day 4, all (100 %) of the fruits treated with Aspergillus niger were very marketable and very firm compared to the other treatments. The findings from this study suggest that the isolated endophytes have potential in the shelf life extension of tomato fruits. Sample B (Aspergillus niger) seems to be more effective than Sample A (Aspergillus ochraceus) in extending the shelf life of the fruits. The mode of action of the test endopohytes should be further investigated. Quality and safety assessment of fruits preserved using endophytes should be further investigated. Future research should aim at extracting bioactive compounds from endophytes that can be used in shelf life extension of fruits.