HARVEST MATURITY AFFECTS FRUIT YIELD, SIZE, AND GRADE OF FRESH-MARKETTOMATO CULTIVARS

Eight staked, determinate tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) culti vars were harvested when green (before breaker stage) or when pink (br eaker stage and riper) in two replicated field studies. In general, to tal yield and average fruit size were reduced when fruit were harveste d at the green stage. Harvest maturity had only a small effect on occu rrence of most fruit defects, except fruit cracking, which was more se vere for pink than for green fruit in the early season experiment. Alt hough total yields for pink harvested fruit were higher than for green harvested fruit in the early season study, the high incidence of frui t crack in pink fruit resulted in similar yields of U.S. combination g rade (U.S. no. 1 and U.S. no. 2) fruit for both treatments. Because th e largest fruit often bring a premium price, harvesting fruit when pin k probably will result in a higher price per kilogram than harvesting fruit when green. Fruit harvested green, however, are generally firmer , more crack resistant, and require fewer harvests than fruit harveste d pink.