Influence of misting on temperature and heat storage of greenhouse grown tomato fruits during summer conditions

Fruit temperature affects the growth and qualitative characteristics of berries. To better understand the dynamics of tomato fruit temperature during summer conditions in greenhouse, when a fog-system was used, surface and internal temperatures of tomato fruits were measured continuously during the day. Both were strongly affected when the fog-system was operating. During the hottest hours of the day, a significant decrease in maximum fruit temperature was observed: about 38degreesC without fogging and only 31 degreesC with fogging. Our results evidenced that two main processes drive fruit cooling when a fog-system was used: the decrease in air temperature and the evaporation of water droplets deposited on the fruit skin. These two processes appear to contribute in roughly the same proportion to fruit cooling.