Abstract
The alcobaça mutation in the Penjar tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) variety alters the ripening process and confers a long shelf life (more than four months). Storage of Penjar tomatoes leads to a distinctive sensory profile valued by local consumers, who prefer aged tomatoes to fresh ones. To study chemical changes occurring during storage, we characterized the complete sugar-and-acid profile of 25 accessions at harvest and at 2 and 4 months after harvest. We found considerable variability in the sugar-and-acid profile within the Penjar variety, especially for fructose and glucose. Some accessions presented exceptionally high values for sugars, making them especially interesting for breeding programs. During postharvest, the concentration of glucose, fructose, and citric acid decreased, whereas the concentration of malic and glutamic acids increased. Data from this study offer novel insights into postharvest changes in tomato quality parameters and help elucidate the reasons for the appreciation of this variety by consumers.
Highlights
Ripening and postharvest behavior are strongly disrupted in ripening mutants of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) (Klee and Giovannoni, 2011)
Because the alc allele in the Penjar tomatoes occurs in a variety of genetic backgrounds (Casals et al, 2012), we sought to ascertain the reasons for consumers’ postharvest preferences of this variety so that this information could be transferred to breeding programs
The controls Bodar, rin, alc, and never ripe (Nr) lost their commercial value at one month postharvest and were discarded as controls for the long-term postharvest evolution of sugars and acids
Summary
Ripening and postharvest behavior are strongly disrupted in ripening mutants of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) (Klee and Giovannoni, 2011). In Europe, long-storage landraces (Bota et al, 2014; Casals et al, 2012; Siracusa et al, 2012) are highly valued by local consumers, especially in Italy and Spain, where they are traditionally consumed after a storage period that confers a specific sensory profile. For these special tomatoes, the postharvest period could be referred to as the “aging phase” (Watada et al, 1984), because it involves a series of changes in quality parameters after maturity and before consumption. Because the alc allele in the Penjar tomatoes occurs in a variety of genetic backgrounds (Casals et al, 2012), we sought to ascertain the reasons for consumers’ postharvest preferences of this variety so that this information could be transferred to breeding programs
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