ISHS Acta Horticulturae 163: Symposium on Quality of Vegetables
GENETIC IMPROVEMENT IN THE KEEPING-QUALITY OF TOMATOES |
| Author: | G.E. Hobson |
| Abstract:
Examples of mutations that drastically affect the rate at which tomato fruit ripen are the 'ripening inhibitor' (rin) and the 'non-ripening' (nor) alleles. These have been introduced by a backcross programme into a high-quality, fast-ripening tomato cv., Ailsa Craig. A final cross with the wild-type parent produced F1-hybrid material, i.e., rin/+ or nor/+. These were grown in a replicated trial with the parents and a popular commercial cv., Sonatine, as controls. Samples were taken when fruit was just fully ripe, and after storage for 20 days at 20°C. They were then analysed for colour, firmness, sugars, and titratable acidity. Shelf-life of the ripe fruit was also assessed. Objective measurements of the colour and firmness showed that the hybrids were much less highly-coloured and were firmer than either cvs. Ailsa Craig or Sonatine. While reducing sugar levels were not significantly altered, titratable acidity was maintained particularly well in the rin/+ line. Shelf-life of the mutant hybrids was judged to be very significantly extended compared with the control fruit. The results suggest that when non-ripening alleles such as rin or nor are incorporated into lines having outstanding taste and compositional analysis, deterioration in quality by the ripe fruit is significantly slowed down and the shelf-life of the hybrids is substantially extended. | |
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