Maturation and Quality of Tomatoes with Preharvest Treatments of 2-Chloroethylphosphonic Acid1

When applied to individual greenhouse tomato fruit at ages from 15 to 35 days after anthesis, 2-chloroethylphosphonic acid (Ethrel) at 500 ppm reduced the number of days between anthesis and breaker stage by 7 days. As a result, the early yield from treated fruit was increased considerably with the total yield reaching the same level as the control fruit. No difference in pH and only slight differences in titratable acid or soluble solids between treated and control fruit were observed when compared at the same stage of ripeness. This was also true with respect to respiration and ethylene production of fruit harvested at the breaker stage and stored at 23°C.