Effect of elevated CO2 on lycopene content of tomato (Lycopersicon lycopersicum L. Karsten) fruits

Recently several studies have focused on the antioxidant activity of lycopene such as quenching of singlet oxygen and scavenging of peroxyl radicals. These properties may play a role in the prevention of different cancer and heart diseases. Tomato is one of the most important sources of lycopene. The main information on the effect of environmental parameters on quality and health-retaining constituents of tomato fruit is mostly related to temperature (air- and fruit canopy temperature) and light effects that might provide a stress to the fruit. Nowadays little is know about the direct effect of elevated CO2.The aim of the present work was to evaluate the effects of elevated CO2 in Perspex open top chambers (OTC) on the lycopene content of tomato fruit.Experiments on the effects of elevated CO2 concentrations showed mixed results. In this work it was found that concentrations of lycopene in a fruit decreased significantly when elevated CO2 was used. Elevated nitrogen sources generated only slight, but not significant difference in the lycopene concentration of tomato fruit