Abstract: In this paper, kinetic models were derived for surface color changes in tomato fruits during ripening. The results showed that changes of H°, a/b and L-value in tomato fruits during storage followed a first order reaction kinetics. The rate constants (K_ref) and activation energy value (E_α) at reference temperature of 13℃ were calculated respectively. A time-temperature indicator based on the Hue angle models was designed for predicting and controlling the quality changes of tomato fruits during storage.