Dry matter content in tomato fruits depending on the phase of plant development and growing conditions
The taste of tomato is associated with a high content of extractives - sugars, acids, mineral salts, vitamins, pectin substances. The best taste is characteristic of tomato fruits with a sugar-acid index of at least 7 and a sugar content of more than 3%. For a preliminary assessment of tomato samples by the content of extractive substances, in order to accelerate the breeding process, you can use indirect indicators, which is the amount of soluble substances in the petiole juice: in the phase of 4-5 true leaves, mass flowering, mass ripening of fruits. The higher the index (according to the refractometer) of soluble substances in the leaf petioles, the more it is in ripe fruits. The dry matter content in tomato fruits varies to a greater or lesser extent from growing conditions and weather conditions of the growing season. The correlation dependence on the content of dry matter between the phases of 4-5 true leaves and fruits during the period of mass ripening, grown in protected ground conditions, is high, positive and close (r=1.13). The general correlation dependence on the accumulation of dry matter in the fruits of tomato varieties grown in the open field, depending on weather conditions, is positive, straightforward, consistently average, r=0.3. The presence of a correlation dependence on the content of dry matter between the phases of 4-5 true leaves and mass ripening makes it possible to accelerate the selection process.