PHYSICOCHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF FRUITS OF 4 OPEN-POLLINATED TOMATO (LYCOPERSICON-ESCULENTUM MILL) CULTIVARS GROWN UNDER RAIN-FED CONDITIONS IN JORDAN

Fruits of open pollinated tomato cultivars ('Pello', 'E. Mich', 'Pakit ' and 'Riogrande') were evaluated for physical characters, chemical co mposition, and mineral contents. Results indicated that the physical p roperties were comparable to other tomato cultivars, except for the si ze of the tomato fruits, which was smaller than other cultivars, but t he pulps were as high as 92.4% ('Riogrande'). Data on the chemical com position varied among cultivars, and were comparable with other variet ies except for the % total soluble solids, which ranged from 8.0 ('Pel lo') to 8.8% ('Pakit'). Results of mineral analysis showed that all mi nerals were comparable with other varieties except for K content, whic h was very high, ranging from 567.2 ('Pello') to 801.0 mg/100 g ('Paki t'). The open pollinated tomatoes can be used to replace the imported seeds.