4. Conclusions
In contrast to the expected behaviour, accelerated
softening due to minimal processing was not found.
The firmness measured as maximum force to cause a
predefined deformation did not change significantly after
slicing during short-term storage times. The major
change in firmness was observed in the initial firmness
at the different stages of maturity. The firmness decay
of tomato slices during storage could be described
by a first order reaction model that incorporates the