Peel Removal by High Pressure Steam from Processing Tomatoes with Yellow Shoulder Disorder

Fruit of processing tomatoes were peeled using high pressure steam with lab and commercial equipment. Recovery ranged from 64.8% to 77.8% and quantity of adhering peel ranged from 385 to 1866 mg/kg fruit for nine genotypes steam peeled at 4.4 bar. Recovery decreased with increasing steam pressure and dwell time for VF 134 and Castlehy 1509. Quality of peeled Castlehy 1509 was superior to VF 134 fruit due to lack of yellow shoulder disorder (YSD) and consequent low quantities of adhering peel. Equations for prediction of % recovery and quantity of adhering peel as functions of steam pressure, dwell time, and % YSD were developed based on results of the lab scale experiment.