The non-destructive visible/near-infrared (VIS/NIR) spectroscopy is a promising technique in determining the quality of agricultural commodities. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the ability of VIS/NIR spectroscopy (550–1100 nm) to distinguish between three different varieties of tomato (i.e., Ekram, Harver and Izmer), as well as to predict the quality parameters of tomato, such as soluble solids content (SSC), titratable acidity (TA), taste (SSC/TA) and firmness. Ninety intact samples from three tomato varieties were used. These samples were examined using VIS/NIR spectroscopy and quality parameters were also measured using traditional methods. Principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least square (PLS) were carried out. The results of PCA showed the ability of VIS/NIR spectroscopy to distinguish between the three varieties, where two PCs explained about 99% of the total variance in both calibration and validation sets. Moreover, PLS showed the possibility of modelling quality parameters. The correlation coefficient (R2) and the ratio of performance deviation (RPD) for all quality parameters (except for firmness) were found to be higher than 0.85 and 2.5, respectively. Thus, these results indicate that the VIS/NIR spectroscopy can be used to discriminate between different varieties of tomato and predict their quality parameters.

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Background: The improper disposal of olive pomace causes a serious environmental issue in Palestine because of its negative effects on soil, environment and ground water. The current study was aimed to investigate the potential of using olive pomace as soilless growing medium. Methods: During the period 2016-2017 two field experiments were conducted at the experimental farm of Palestine Technical University Kadoorie, Tulkarm, Palestine. In the first experiment, olive pomace was mixed with peat moss as follows (Op:Pt2:1, Op:Pt1:1, Op:Pt1:2 and Op100%). In the second experiment, olive pomace was mixed with peat moss and compared with different known growing medium as follows (Op:Pt1:1, Op:Pt1:3, Pt:Vr1:1 and Pt:Pr1:1). Result: Results of the first experiment indicated that the olive pomace treatment (Op:Pt1:2) produced the highest plant height compared to the other treatments. In the second experiment the (Pt:Vr1:1) and (Pt:Pr1:1) treatments produced the highest yield of cucumber without significant difference between those two treatments. The (Op:Pt1:1) treatment produced higher plant height, root depth, dry weight, yield production and fruit number of cucumber compared with (Op:Pt1:3) treatment.