3.3. Firmness
Firmness was higher when slices were taken nearer the stem end and therefore a large variability was observed. Firmness of tomato slices was influenced by temperature and storage time (P=0.001) ( Table 1). A significant reduction in firmness was detected when samples were kept at 10°C compared with those stored at 2°C. In relation to the values detected after cutting (75 N), firmness decreased during storage at both temperatures. On the other hand, there was no effect on firmness retention from calcium dips, passive or active MAP. Slicing caused a slight softening in ‘Durinta’ tomato when compared with other fruits such as pears ( Gorny et al., 1998) or kiwifruit ( Varoquaux et al., 1990).