Determination of some quality parameters in early maturing tomato lines

In recent years, tomato breeding research, as in many vegetable species, has focused on improving the intrinsic quality of the fruit. To identify the superior lines in terms of biochemical properties, 20 early maturing tomato lines were evaluated. Yields of the lines used in this work ranged from 2.5 to 9.2 kg per plant, with average fruit weights between 86 and 246 g. Consequently, L* values for tomato fruit varied from 30.87 to 45.35, a* values from 8.36 to 21.48 and b* values from 15.28 to 42.17. The values of titratable acidity, pH, brix, total carotene, total xanthophyll, ascorbic acid, and lycopene in tomato fruits changed from 0.27 to 0.40%, from 3.75 to 4.95, from 2.60 to 6.30%, from 80.2 to 197.5 mg/100 g, from 115.3 to 256.6 mg/100 g, from 10.50 to 28.78 mg/100 g, and from 1.6 to 4.09 mg/100 g, respectively. The contents of soluble and reducing sugars ranged from 7.31 to 17.51 mg/g and 2.46 to 6.57 mg/g respectively. According to these values, the lines with the highest biochemical properties were L7, L17 and L3. This data could then be used as a genetic resource in breeding programmes for the development of new varieties.