Changes in nutraceutical quality in tomato under different organics substrates and shade net conditions

Abstract

ABSTRACT The yield and nutraceutical quality of tomato under shade net was evaluated, using different mixtures of organic fertilizers at Torreon, Coahuila in northern Mexico. The treatments consisted of mixtures using sand (S), vermicompost (VC), solarized bovine manure (SB), agricultural soil (AS) and mineralized compost (MC). The treatments were: T1 (SVC/80:20), T2 (SSB/80:20), T4 (SVCAS/80:15:05), T5 (SMC/80:20), T6 (SSBAS/80:15:05), and a control treatment T3 (S/100) with Steiner solution. The results showed that in yield, the best organic treatment was T1 with 3.18 kg plant-1; while the highest yield was the control with 3.58 kg plant-1. Phenolic content in the organic treatment fruits was 36.0 to 56.94 mg equivalent of Gallic Acid per 100 g in fresh weight for T1 and T5, respectively. The greatest antioxidant capacity was obtained in T4, with 445 μM equivalent in Trolox/100 g fresh weight. The lycopene content in the tomato fruits was, in average, 32% higher in the red fruits than in the yellow ones, with 3.12 and 2.24 mg lycopene values·100 g·pulp-1, respectively. In red fruits, the T5 treatment presented the highest value and in the yellow ones, T1 was the highest, with 3.52 and 2.35 mg lycopene values·100 g·pulp-1, respectively. Keywords: Solanum lycopersicum L, DPPH, phenols, lycopene.