Performance of New Muchamiel Tomato Lines with Virus Resistance Genes Grafted onto Two Commercial Rootstocks

Pedro Carbonell,Jaime Cebolla-Cornejo,Joaquín Parra,José Ángel Cabrera,Adrián Grau,Juan J Ruiz,Juan Francisco Salinas,Santiago García Martínez,Raul Martí,Julián Bartual,Aránzazu Alonso,Lucía Sánchez-Rodríguez

doi:10.3390/agronomy12010119

Abstract

Tomato landraces are regaining interest in Spain because their great fruit quality and value in popular gastronomy. Muchamiel is a traditional tomato variety grown in SE Spain that has been recently improved by the CIAGRO-UMH Tomato Breeding Group, resulting in several lines and hybrids with genetic resistances to virus and most of the original Muchamiel genome. In the current study, two hybrids and one pure line from CIAGRO-UMH and a commercial Muchamiel were grown under conventional conditions to evaluate three different grafting treatments: non-grafting and grafting onto the commercial Beaufort and Maxifort rootstocks. The yield parameters and fruit quality were assessed, and a sensory analysis was performed to evaluate the behavior of every scion/rootstock combination. Overall, significantly worse yield and fruit number in Maxifort-grafted plants were reported; as well as a slight reductions in SSC, fructose, and sucrose; and significant effects on few sensory traits. Instead, Beaufort-grafted plants showed no reduced yield, whereas no differences were reported between grafting treatments in fruit weight, TA, and acid profile, as well as in most of flavor and texture sensory parameters. These results suggest that Muchamiel/Beaufort combination could be suitable under unfavorable conditions, while Maxifort do not seem to provide agronomic nor quality benefits.

Highlights

In recent years, traditional tomato landraces have been regaining attention in Spain markets due to their great organoleptic quality and as a differentiated product linked to popular culture and gastronomy [1]
Worse yields were observed in UMH1200 compared to both Muchamiel hybrids (−20% to −40%), an effect related to a decreased fruit weight
Growing our Muchamiel cultivars grafted onto Beaufort and Maxifort rootstocks under favorable conditions resulted in significantly worse yield and fruit number in plants grafted onto Maxifort, slightly but significant reductions in SSC, fructose, and sucrose equivalents, and significant effects on some sensory traits, with no consensus between sessions in most of them

Summary

Introduction

Traditional tomato landraces have been regaining attention in Spain markets due to their great organoleptic quality and as a differentiated product linked to popular culture and gastronomy [1]. In a market saturated of commercial hybrids with generally low quality, some farmers have found a business opportunity in recovering the cultivation of these landraces [2]. The Association of Producers and Marketers of Muchamiel Tomato was stablished in 2018 with the aim of developing a common production and marketing framework, as well as achieving an official quality brand for this tomato variety. Growing this landrace continues to entail a high risk for farmers, partly due to their susceptibility to different biotic and abiotic factors. One of them is the incidence of viral diseases, such as those caused by ToMV, TYLCV, and TSWV [5]

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