22nd International Symposium on Analytical and Environmental Problems 239 CHANGES IN THE QUALITY IN TOMATO FRUIT DUE TO HOME-SCALE FREEZING Diana Moigradean * , Mariana-Atena Poiana, Liana-Maria Alda, Ioan Gogoasa, George-Andrei Draghici Faculty of Food Processing Technology, Banat's University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine „King Michael I of Romania” from Timisoara, Calea Aradului 119, Timisoara, RO 300645, Romania e-mail: dimodean@yahoo.com Abstract The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of home-scale freezing in the quality of tomato fruit cultivated in field conditions, in Romanian west area.Freezing is one of the oldest and most widely used methods of vegetables preservation.Tomatoes were analyzed fresh and stored frozen in domestic freezer at -18 0 C for 2-6 months until analysis. Tomatoes were analyzed regarding moisture, sugar, lycopene content,ascorbic acid, phenolic compounds and total antioxidant capacity. Most important losses due to 6 months home-scale freezing were recorded for lycopene content (47%) followed by vitamin C content (20%), total antioxidant capacity (16%) and phenolic compounds content (13%). The freezing process has no to much effect on the nutritional compounds but for the best quality, use the tomato fruit within short time. Introduction Tomato (Lycopersicum esculentum) is the most popular and widely cultivated seasonal fruit vegetable crop; it is grown in the backyard of most people’s home [12]. Tomatoes produced in climatic conditions of Romanian country is highlighted by high sugar content, acidity, ascorbic acid and carotenoids, especially the tomatoes produced in the field the months from July to September, due to high temperature and solar radiation [8]. Tomatoes are especially important for the human diet because of their content of vitamin C, carotenes, lycopene and phenolic compounds. Ascorbic acid, lycopene and phenolic compounds are a major source of antioxidants [14]. Freezing is one of the oldest and most widely used methods of food preservation, which allows preservation of taste, texture, and nutritional value in foods better than any other method [5].Freezing has been successfully employed for the long-term preservation of many foods. The process involves lowering the product temperature generally to -18°C or below [6]. Frozen tomatoes are best when used within 4-6 months, depending on quality of fruit at time of processing and how they are processed for the freezer, but have a freezer life of 8-12 months [18]. Tomatoes must be select firm, ripe tomatoes with a deep red color. Frozen tomatoes have a mushy texture when thawed and are suitable only for cooking, such as in soups, stews and spaghetti sauces [16]. Experimental Tomatoes samples were collected on June-July at thoroughly fruit maturity. After harvesting tomato fruit were used for the analysis on fresh products and frozen immediately. Were used whole tomatoes, closed in the freezer bags, excess air removed, without blanching and kept in the Zanussi domestic freezer at -18 0 C for 2-6 months. Before analysis, the tomato samples were thawed in refrigerator at 3-5 0 C for 6 hours; tomatoes defrosted completely were using.