Deficiencies in postharvest technology and the attack of phytopathogens cause horticultural products, such as tomatoes to have a very short shelf life. In addition to the economic damage, this can also have negative effects on health and the environment. The objective of this work is to evaluate an active coating of sodium alginate in combination with eugenol-loaded polymeric nanocapsules (AL-NP-EUG) to improve the shelf life of tomato. Using the nanoprecipitation technique, NPs with a size of 171 nm, a polydispersity index of 0.113 and a zeta potential of −2.47 mV were obtained. Using the HS-SPME technique with GC-FID, an encapsulation efficiency percentage of 31.85% was determined for EUG. The shelf-life study showed that the AL-NP-EUG-treated tomatoes maintained firmness longer than those without the coating. In addition, the pathogenicity test showed that tomatoes with AL-NP-EUG showed no signs of damage caused by the phytopathogen Colletotrichum gloesporoides. It was concluded that the formulation of EUG nanoencapsulated and incorporated into the edible coating presents high potential for its application as a natural nanoconservative of fruit and vegetable products such as tomato.

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicon L.) is a highly valued crop in the world, particularly in Nigeria with high nutritional and economic benefits. However, its production in Iwollo, Southeast Nigeria, is constrained by unfavorable weather conditions. To address this, a study was conducted at the Teaching and Research Farm, Department of Horticultural Technology, Enugu State Polytechnic, Iwollo, Southeast Nigeria to evaluate and select the best cultivar for high tunnel production using the Rank Summation Index. Completely Randomized Design with three replications was used, and six high-yielding cultivars, namely Roma VF, BHN-1021, Supremo, Pomodro, Money maker, and Iwollo local, were evaluated. Data were collected on key agronomic characters and analyzed with Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) at a 0.05 level of probability. There were significant differences in the number of leaves per plant, plant height, number of branches per plant, days to fruit maturity, fresh fruit weight, number of harvested fresh fruits per plant, and fresh fruit yield per plant among the cultivars. These characters that showed significant differences were ranked and summed up to obtain the Rank Summation Index (RSI) score. The results revealed that the Supremo cultivar had the lowest and best score (18). This suggests Supremo as the best cultivar for high tunnel tomato production in the study area, based on its superior performance across key agronomic traits.

Soil salinity is a major abiotic stress that drastically hinders plant growth and development, resulting in lower crop yields and productivity. As one of the most consumed vegetables worldwide, tomato (Solanum lycropersicum L.) plays a key role in the human diet. The current study aimed to explore the differential tolerance level of two tomato varieties (Rio Grande and Agata) to salt stress. To this end, various growth, physiological and biochemical attributes were assessed after two weeks of 100 mM NaCl treatment. Obtained findings indicated that, although the effects of salt stress included noticeable reductions in shoots’ and roots’ dry weights and relative growth rate as well as total leaf area, for the both cultivars, Rio Grande performed better compared to Agata variety. Furthermore, despite the exposure to salt stress, Rio Grande was able to maintain an adequate tissue hydration and a high leaf mass per area (LMA) through the accumulation of proline. However, relative water content, LMA and proline content were noticeably decreased for Agata cultivar. Likewise, total leaf chlorophyll, soluble proteins and total carbohydrates were significantly decreased; whereas, malondialdehyde was significantly accumulated in response to salt stress for the both cultivars. Moreover, such negative effects were remarkably more pronounced for Agata relative to Rio Grande cultivar. Overall, the current study provided evidence that, at the early growth stage, Rio Grande is more tolerant to salt stress than Agata variety. Therefore, Rio Grande variety may constitute a good candidate for inclusion in tomato breeding programs for salt-tolerance and is highly recommended for tomato growers, particularly in salt-affected fields.

Twenty-two tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) genotypes were examined for correlation and path analysis in the randomized block design under open field conditions. Total fruit yield showed a significant positive correlation with the number of fruits per plant, average fruit weight, lycopene content, and percent seedling survival in the field at both the genotypic and phenotypic levels. A strong correlation between these characters revealed that selection based on these characters would consequently improve the total fruit yield. Path analysis showed that the number of fruits per plant, average fruit weight, percent seedling survival in the nursery, and number of locules per fruit exhibited high positive direct phenotypic effects on total fruit yield, whereas the number of fruits per plant, average fruit weight, percent seedling survival in the field, and pollen viability had very high positive direct genotypic effects. Therefore, to increase the yield, it would be profitable to prioritize these traits in the selection program.

Introduction: The selection of genotypes with determinate growth habit in tomato should contemplate adequate selection criteria to increase the efficiency of the breeding program. Objective: The objective of this work was to estimate selection criteria for “chonto” type tomato lines with determined growth habit. Materials and methods: This work was carried out at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia (Palmira Campus), in 2016, with seven lines with determinate growth habit and a control with indeterminate growth. Heritability in a broad sense (h² g), coefficient of environmental variation, coefficient of genetic variation, selection efficiency and genetic gain were determined in parameters of morphological, phonological, fruit quality, fruit shape and production, using the RELM/BLUP procedure of the SELEGEN software. Results: There were three ranges of h² g, the first with values of h² g greater than 0.76, the second between 0.53 and 0.38, and the third with a value less than 0.38. The highest values of h² g were for final plant height with 0.92, plant height at harvest with 0.88, yield per plant with 0.83, days to flowering with 0.83, number of fruits per plant with 0.82, and days to harvest with 0.82. For genetic gain it was found that the control had the highest values for final plant height, plant height at harvest, internode length, days to harvest, harvest duration, soluble solids content, number of fruits per plant, fruit weight and yield per plant; however, in some parameters such as height and phenology for selection by determined growth habit, the lowest values were better. Conclusion: There was evidence of genetic parameters that could be considered as selection criteria for “chonto” type tomato lines with determinate growth habit.