Evaluation of the quality traits of red cherry tomato varieties grown in alkaline soil

Abstract

The diversity and quantity of organic acids and the sugar content affect the taste, storage, and processing quality in ripe tomato fruits. Therefore, understanding the genetic potential of different tomato ( Lycopersicon Mill.) varieties for this and other traits is an important first step in the early-stage research to select varieties for various uses. In this study, four red cherry tomato ( Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) varieties belonging to subsp. cultum , subsp. spontaneum , and subsp. subspontaneum were evaluated for their genetic potential to produce titratable acids (TA), especially ascorbic acid (AA), total carbohydrates (TCH), and seed protein content (SPC) in ripe fruit when grown under temperate climate zone conditions and in alkaline soil. This information is of great importance for the breeding programmes as well as for the process of development of new improved cherry tomato varieties. The correlation between biochemical properties of fruit and some physico-chemical parameters such as ash (AS), dry matter (DM), moisture (M), and acidity (pH) as well as the differences between studied varieties for each trait were investigated using statistical analysis. The results showed that all the studied varieties are susceptible to grow in the alkaline soil with pH up to 7.9 with the acceptable fruit quality. Significant differences were observed in ascorbic acid, ash, DM, and moisture content among all studied varieties. No differences were observed for pH, titratable acids, total carbohydrates, and seed protein content. L. esculentum var. cerasiforme showed the best potential to be included in the breeding programmes for the alkaline soil management under agroecological conditions of the temperate climate zone.