Comparison of biochemical and morphological properties of selected tomato varieties grown in glasshouse and in field

The influence of environment on the characteristic of tomatoes was researched in the Laboratory field of the Biotechnical Faculty in Ljubljana between May and September 2012. The experiment was conducted on four different strains of tomatoes (two strains - Novosadski jabučar and Volovsko srce, and two hybrids Belle F1 and Amati F1) in a plastic greenhouse and outdoors. First, we sowed the seeds into polystyrene culture plates and transplanted the plants after they had developed 4 to 5 trophophylls. Technologically ripe fruits were picked once a week between July 10 and September 10, 2012. Simultaneously we measured the height of plants, thickness of stems, length of internodes, the number of marketable fruits per plant, an average mass of marketable fruits, a mass of marketable fruits per plant, a share of unmarketable fruits, a hardness of fruits and the thickness of pericarps. We also performed biochemical analyses and compared the colours of fruits (L*, a*, b*), sugars in fruits (total sugar, saccharose, glucose, fructose) and organic acids in fruits (citronic, shikimic, fumaric, malic acid), antioxidants in fruits (lycopene, vitamin C). We were interested in the influence of different environments on the measured parameters and how they vary between different sorts. We discovered that the plants cultivated in a protected environment develop better and grow fruits of a higher quality than those cultivated in the open air. At the same time strain specific deviations were apparent