M. Mzouri et al., INFLUENCE OF CULTIVAR AND SUBTRATE ON QUA LITY AND POSTHARVEST STORAGE OF HYDROPONICALLY-GROWN GREENHOUSE TOMATO, Canadian Journal of Plant Science, 76(3), 1996, pp. 515-519
Plants of nine tomato cultivar (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) of cont
rasting breeding origins where grown under two growing systems using t
he nutritive film technique (NFT) and a peat substrate. Planting densi
ty was 3 plants m(-2). Yield of marketable fruit, culls and four fruit
quality parameters (texture, colour, titratable acidity and total sol
uble solids) were measured at harvest and over 28 d post-harvest. Two
varieties were used: Trust, one of the most popular cultivars in Canad
a, and Cencara a newly released cultivar with long-keeping quality. Ov
er a 21-wk harvest period there was no significant difference for yiel
d or for post-harvest characteristics between the two growth substrate
s. Trust produced highest yields, compared to the other cultivars, fol
lowed by Bounty with a yield 1.6 kg m(-2) lower. Bounty and Panther yi
elded significantly greater masses of marketable fruit than the other
cultivars. The new cultivar Cencara showed significantly lower total a
nd marketable yields than the other cultivars, because of the small si
ze of its fruit. At harvest and in storage, Cencara showed better keep
ing qualities than Trust, while the latter had better eating qualities
.