2. Pre and postharvest evaluation of hydroponically grown tomato at different maturity stages
Abstract
Tomato is a valuable crop preferably grown in greenhouse under soil and soilless cultivation system. Tomato demand in the country has been increasing at 7.3% annually while the yield is 9.5 tons ha-1 that is not only stagnant but also the only 25% of the global average (38-ton per ha). Therefore, one needs to find the alternate high production technologies like soilless greenhouse farming. In this regard, a pre- and post-harvest studies were planned to evaluate the performance of beefsteak (cv Badia) and plum (cv Sahil) tomatoes grown in soilless cultivation system under partially controlled greenhouse. Additionally, the fruits were harvested at three maturity stages (M1: Mature green, M2: Turning and M3: Ripped tomatoes) for its shelf-life testing. Different morpho-physio-biochemical attributes were recorded as per the requirement. Pre-harvest results indicated that the cultivar Badia performed better than Sahil in number of leaves, inter-nodal distance and fruit size, photosynthetic rate, transpiration rate, stomatal conductance, sub-stomatal CO2, and water use efficiency. However, cultivar Sahil performed better in total soluble solids (TSS°), ascorbic acid and total acidity.
Keywords: Lycopersicon esculentum; Photosynthesis; Soilless; Vitamin C
