EFFECT OF ETHREL ON RIPENING DYNAMIC AND LYCOPENE CONTENT IN CASE OF TWO PROCESSING VARIETIES

The tomato (Lycopersicon lycopersicum (L) Karsten) is an important crop cultivated in Hungary. Ethrel has been used to advance maturity and promote uniform processing tomato ripening since 25–30 years in Hungary. The aims of the present study were 1) to evaluate the effects of two different ethrel concentrations on ripening rate, 2) to investigate lycopene content of different maturity stages, 3) to test the effect of ethrel on lycopene content. It is important to note that the experimental year (in July and August) was very rainy and cool. Ethrel was applied at two rates: solution = 1500 and 3000 ppm. The experiment results clearly indicate that Ethrel can be a useful and effective maturity-enhancement tool, under the circumstances. Ripening concentration increased significantly by Ethrel. In spite of this, Ethrel treatments did not affect significantly for examined varieties of lycopene content. The quality of tomato yields or products can be well characterised by their lycopene content. Colour is a most important quality factor in consumer perception of food products. The range in lycopene contents from all samples evaluated was 48.7 to 113.0 mg kg^-1 fresh weight. Correlations between lycopene content and colour (a*/b*, and chroma) were investigated also.