Agronomic performance and fruit nutritional quality of an Andean tomato collection

ASPRELLI, P.; SANCE, M. M.; INSANI M.; ASIS R.; VALLE E.; CARRARI F.; GALMARINI, C. R.; PERALTA, I. E.

ACTA HORTICULTURAE

International Society for Horticultural Science.

Lugar: Bruselas; Año: 2017 vol. 1159 p. 197 - 204

0567-7572

Cultivated tomato provides important nutrients to human diet, and its fruits contain . Sseveral fruit compounds, which acting alone or in combination, could be beneficial for human health. A collection of local landracesvarieties hasve been recovered from Andean areas of Argentina, and maintained in the Germplasm Bank of La Consulta INTA, Mendoza. These landraces have been selected by local farmers mainly for their environmental adaptation and fruit quality traits. Our goal was to establish associations among agronomic properties,, commercial andfruit nutritional qualities and commercial characteristics of a collection of this Andean tomatoes collection. For this purpose 32 tomato accessions were used, and the wild species type accession LA1589 Solanum pimpinellifolium as contrasting control were evaluatedincluded. Tomato plants were grown at the Experimental Station La Consulta INTA, using a randomized block designs. Analyses were performed on mature red fruit. For the morpho-agronomic characterization 19 traits were recorded. Metabolite fruit contents were evaluated by HPLC, MNR and GC-MS. All data were integrated using multiple variable analyses. Fruit size was inversely correlated with the content of free amino acids, suggesting a dilution effect. Fruit shape and size partially correlated with sugar and organic acids content. Shape and pericarp thickness were associated with organic acids, free amino acids, and aromatic compounds, as well as with pH and juice acidity; although nonet correlation was found with soluble solids, dry matter or pericarp firmness. Color intensity of fruit showed a clear association with the increase of few metabolites and the decrease of several aromatic compounds and alcohols. Different independent selection events would have generated different genetic constitutions, confirming that traditional agricultural habitats are fundamental reservoirs of genetic diversity. These data suggest that improvements in the nutritional value of tomato would complement the agronomic properties, and the collection of Andean tomatoes possess an interesting metabolite variability available for breeding purposes.allowing selecting cultivars that better adapt to different purposes.