Production of tomato carotenoids (solanum lycopersicon mill.) during different forcing periods

Abstract

Tomatos are one of the most widely grown and consumed vegetables in the world. It does not only meet the needs of the fresh market, but also has become an essential ingredient for the food industry. Since 2012, however, intensive soilless forcing is gaining ground on increasingly large areas, using more and more modern technologies. This will make the fulfilling of our domestic tomato demands more continuous, however we can also produce for exports.

However, the yield is not all! Continuous forcing also means that the plant grows during the winter-spring period when biological and other physical factors are not in line with nature.  During this period, the necessary factors must be artificially provided for the plant! There may be a question as to what kind of quality differences can be found between autumn-winter and spring-summer tomatoes?! The most valuable carotene of the tomato is the red lycopene, which is continuously produced during ripening. However, elevated air temperatures above 32 °C can stop the production of lycopene and then the yellow ß-carotene becomes a stronger colour in the berry. During my work, I studied the ratio of the production of the two carotenoids in different types in different forcing periods.