Agronomic performance and physicochemical quality of tomato fruits under organic production system

Abstract

Tomatoes are a highlight in the organic vegetables production, but in order to cultivate them, there is a lack of information on cultivars adapted to the organic system. The objective of this study was to evaluate the productive performance and to characterize the quality attributed to tomato fruits under the organic production system. The experiment was conducted in field, on an agroecological farm, in the municipality of Verê, Paraná State -Brazil. The experiment consisted on fourteen tomato cultivars, under a randomized complete block design, with four replications. The evaluated traits were the total and commercial fruit production, total and commercial number of fruits, mass and average diameter of commercial fruits and physicochemical quality traits (firmness, pH, color (L*, C and h°), soluble solids (SS), titratable acidity (TA), and the ratio of SS/TA). Considering together production traits and fruit quality aspects, the cultivars Netuno, Aguamiel, and Cordilheira can be considered the best choices, having potential to be recommended for organic production system.

Agronomic Performance and Nutraceutical Quality of a Tomato Germplasm Line Selected under Organic Production System

“…Titratable acidity is principally related to citric and malic acids, which attained approximately 15% of the dry matter in fresh mature tomato fruit [35]. The titratable acidity values of 14 tomato cultivars grown in Brazil under an organic production system [7] were in the range of 0.22 to 0.37 % results that were in accordance with the average data found in our current study. However, Dobrin et al [36] found slightly higher values compared to the current research, ranging from 0.41 to 0.45% in 2 fresh organic tomato varieties.…”

“…Our pH values are comparable with those acquired by researchers from the southwest of Spain, who found that pH values ranged from 4.33 to 4.51 in 5 traditional tomato varieties grown organically in open air [34]. Nevertheless, these values were lower than those obtained by Mazon et al [7], who related pH values of between 4.62 and 4.92 for organically grown tomatoes. Titratable acidity is principally related to citric and malic acids, which attained approximately 15% of the dry matter in fresh mature tomato fruit [35].…”

“…The texture of soil was a clay loam with 29%, 18%, and 32% for clay, loam, and sand, respectively. The soil electrical conductivity was 0.13 mS/cm and with the appropriate pH (7) for tomato. The soil contains 0.16% total nitrogen, 1.85% organic matter, 728 mg/kg magnesium, 869 mg/kg potassium, 45 mg/kg phosphorus, and 68 mg/kg calcium.…”

“…Variety of choice is an important criterion to be successful in organic tomato farming. In fact, the genetic factors associated to each variety may affect key parameters, including yield, resistance to diseases [6], fruit size and quality [7]. In fact, generally, yields in organic farming are lower compared to conventional ones [8][9][10].…”

Long-term impact of biofortified iodine on tomato (Lycopersicon Esculentum) growth, yield, and quality

“…Tomato fruit quality is determined by appearance, size and flavour. Mazon et al (2022) recommend total soluble solids (SS) and titrable acidity (TA) for fruit taste and quality evaluation. This vital vitamin boosts immunity lowers blood pressure and lowers cholesterol.…”