3.6. Lycopene
Fig. 5 shows the lycopene content of cherry tomatoes. The pigments of tomatoes include mostly the green pigments chlorophylls a and b, the yellow pigment beta-carotene, and the red pigment lycopene (Friedman and Levin, 1998), which are
metabolized during the ripening of tomatoes. Lycopene content increased over the storage period for both samples (MAP and control). The control samples showed an increase of 27.58 g L1 in lycopene content. The cherry tomatoes stored under an atmosphere of 5% O2, 5% CO2, and 90% N2 showed a less pronounced
increase of lycopene contents (8.36 g L1). No significant difference was observed between 15 and 25 days in this condition, a result consistent with the color analysis of the fruit.