COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE PIGMENT CONTENT OF DIFFERENT CROP CYCLE TOMATO VARIETIES FOR INDUSTRY

The tomato fruit colour should be a full red of both flesh and skin. This quality attribute is that which the consumer perceives first, and determines other quality factors, such as flavour and aroma.
The characteristic red colour of tomato is given by a combination of carotenoid pigments of which the most abundant is lycopene. These carotenoid functions are under intensive investigation by several research teams, and scientific data, on anti-oxidative and anti-cancer properties amongst others, have been published nowadays. The main dietary human source of lycopene is the ripe red tomato.
A study was carried out to analyse the influence of crop cycle on the agronomic and physical-chemical parameters of several well-known commercial tomato varieties, focus on colour and pigments content (carotenoids, lycopene (cis-lycopene, lycopene epoxide, all trans lycopene), luthein, and all-trans- -carotene and cis--carotene). A total of 3 varieties with 3 different samples and 5 replications each belonging to the three classical periods of the season were evaluated during summer 2.001.
The study was carried out throughout the raw tomatoes varieties to discover possible differences between varieties and to characterise these by their carotenoid pattern and content for selecting the best varieties.