Effect of Harvest Maturity on the Final Fruit Composition of Cherry and Large-fruited Tomato Cultivars

Abstract

Fruit of 2 cherry tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum var. cerasiforme Alef.) cultivars [‘Large Red Cherry’ (‘LRC’) and ‘Small Fry’ (‘SF’)] and 2 large-fruited tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) cultivars (‘Duke’ and ‘Sunny’) were harvested green, ripened at 23°C, and analyzed for sugars and organic acids 6 days after breaker stage. Both fructose and glucose concentration decreased in ‘LRC’ and ‘SF’ fruit with less-mature harvested fruit. Maturity at harvest had no effect on the concentration of either sugar in ‘Duke’ or ‘Sunny’ fruit. ‘LRC’ had the highest fructose and glucose concentration among cultivars. Increased citric acid concentration was found with less-mature harvested fruit, except in ‘LRC’. Malic acid concentration within cultivars was similar in the fruit harvested more mature, but decreased with less-mature fruit in ‘Duke’ and ‘Sunny’. ‘LRC’ and ‘SF’ fruit had more citric and malic acid than ‘Duke’ or ‘Sunny’. Cherry tomato cultivars had a higher percentage of locular tissue than the large-fruited cultivars.

Verification of Commercial Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Measurement and Fresh Weight Diversity Modeling in Brix% for Small Tomato Fruits with Various Cultivars and Growth Conditions

“…The Brix% of ‘TY Chika’ was 9.5% on average and had a large difference from 6.2 to 14.2% among the samples compared with other tomato categories. The value is higher than the values of regular tomato fruits and also higher than typical cherry tomato fruits [ 4 ]. In this study, the fresh weight of ‘TY Chika’ was lighter than usual.…”

“…The sugar content of tomato fruits varies depending on cultivars, growing methods, and harvest timing [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]. Fructose and glucose are the dominant sugar components in tomato and cherry tomato fruits, and they contain less sucrose [ 4 ]. Taste preferences for tomatoes vary from country to country, but tomatoes with high sugar content are preferred in various countries.…”