Abstract
Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is one of the most important vegetable crops highly appreciated for the nutritional properties and content of beneficial compounds for human health. After its domestication, this crop has been spread throughout the world and found its secondary centre of diversification in the Mediterranean basin, where numerous landraces have been developed. Among these, ‘San Marzano’ is a famous and remunerative PDO variety for processing and fresh market consumption. ‘Re Fiascone’ is an ancient cultivar for which ongoing efforts aim to promote its diffusion and commercialisation. Both find their origin in the Campania region in Southern Italy where in the past decades, several accessions have been selected and handed down by farmers. This study reports a comprehensive assessment for morphological and biochemical traits of twenty-one accessions of the two landraces. Fruit morphology and content of sugars and flavonoids were the most discriminating parameters among cultivars. Among sugars and organic acids, fructose and citric acid were the most represented compounds, respectively. We found level of trans-lycopene and β-carotene up to 112.82 and 16.29 µg g−1 of fresh product, respectively, while ascorbic acid levels reached values up to 22.48 mg 100 g−1 of fresh weight. Molecular analysis has been performed using a double approach for microsatellite genotyping based on capillary electrophoresis and high-resolution melting. Results highlighted a separation of the accessions according to ‘Re Fiascone’ and ‘San Marzano’ identifying both unique and admixed accessions between the two groups. The study approach aims at the recovery and valorisation of local genetic resources, but also at the identification of traits of interest to transfer in breeding programs.
Highlights
Tomato is a major vegetable crop part of the large Solanaceae family, which includes over 3000 species native to both the Old and the New World [1]
The extracts were analysed by HPLC at 20 ◦ C, using 0.02 M H3 PO4 as mobile phase on a Synergi 4 μm Hydro-resolving power (RP) 80 Å column (250 mm × 4.6 mm, particle size 4.0 μm) and a SecurityGuard guard column (4.0 mm × 3.0 mm) from Phenomenex, Quantification of organic acids was performed at 210 nm through the same HPLC system as for simple sugars analysis equipped with a 2996 photodiode array detector
For microsatellite several statistical parameter were calculated as following: (I) Polymorphic Information Content (PIC) was estimated by determining the allele frequency per locus using the formula PICm = 2 fm (1 − fm), where PICm is the polymorphic information content of marker m, and fm is the frequency of the polymorphism present at given locus, and (1 − fm) is the frequency of absent polymorphism for each locus; (II) effective multiplex ratio (EMR) is defined as the product of total polymorphic loci and the number (n) of polymorphic loci for an individual assay; (III) marker index (MI) is the product
Summary
Tomato is a major vegetable crop part of the large Solanaceae family, which includes over 3000 species native to both the Old (eggplant, in China and India) and the New World (tomato, pepper and potato, in Central and South America) [1]. The different ecotypes of the ‘San Marzano’ group are characterised by types of red berry tomatoes and cylindrical, fewer seeds and suitable for the transformation of the product [11], whereas the accessions of the ‘Re Fiascone’ group display fruits with shape mostly rounded or squared and consistent pulp [4]. Such diversity represents a source of useful traits underlying nutritional and organoleptic quality, lacking instead in many improved and commercialised cultivars [12], being a reservoir of potential alleles for breeding for quality. The approach presented in this study provides an opportunity to identify novel sources of traits from existing biodiversity and promote locally adapted germplasm for breeding for quality and sustainability in the decades
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
