Biochemical, sensorial and genomic profiling of traditional Italian tomato varieties

Abstract

Fruit Xavour of traditional tomato ecotypes diVers from that of modern varieties, the latter being often blamed for lack of Xavour. To respond to consumer complaints breeders should know the range of genetic variability available in tomato resources, including local ecotypes, for improving Xavour. For this purpose, multitrait characterization, including biochemical, sensorial and molecular analyses, was performed on 12 Italian tomato ecotypes that belong to diVerent types (San Marzano, Sorrento, and Vesuvio). The ecotypes showed a signiWcant variation both in glucose and citric acid content. As for amino acid determination, lysine, aspartic acid and serine showed signiWcant variation among the three types analyzed. Sensory analysis clearly evidenced diVerences among genotypes: the San Marzano ecotypes revealed sensory proWles that diVer from the control processing variety in perception of sweetness and sourness, whereas the Sorrento and Vesuvio ecotype proWles were similar to the fresh market control. In particular, Vesuvio genotypes exhibited a good intensity of tomato aroma and sweetness and an intermediate level of acidity. Finally, molecular characterization performed through AFLP markers provided evidence for a very high level of polymorphism: an ecotype-speciWc AFLP pattern was identiWed for at least 11 genotypes, thus deWning their molecular Wngerprints.

Sugar-and-acid profile of Penjar tomatoes and its evolution during storage

“…Likewise, the sugar content in Penjar is clearly higher than in other tomato landraces from the Mediterranean basin (Ercolano et al, 2008;Loiudice et al, 1995). The high sugar concentrations of some accessions could be related to their low fruit weight (mean 64.1 g).…”

A comparative study of the physico‐chemical properties affecting the organoleptic quality of fresh and thermally treated yellow tomato ecotype fruit

“…The molecules influencing these features have different chemical-physical characteristics and might change the sensorial perception. For example, Pratta et al (2011) found levels ranging between 3.79 and 6.61 (°Brix) in sixteen analysed recombinant inbred lines, whereas Ercolano et al (2008) measured from 4.10 to 5.50°Brix in a group of 16 Italian ecotypes. In particular, sweetness and sourness are related to the sugar and acid contents, respectively, and they also contribute to the overall aroma (Causse et al, 2010).…”

“…After processing, they also showed a cytotoxic effect towards cancer cells, thus revealing their potential use for the production of tomato-based functional foods. This ecotype has been previously characterised at morphological, biochemical, molecular (Ercolano et al, 2008) and sensorial levels (Carli et al, 2011), and therefore, it constitutes a good control for evaluating the organoleptic qualities of the three yellow genotypes that exhibit a similar fruit typology. The yellow fruit genotypes were compared with the red fruit ecotype Ves2001 (E48), which represents a traditional Italian fruit typology (the Vesuvio type) and is characterised by a particular flavour and taste due to its genomic constitution and cultivation in a volcanic area (Carli et al, 2009).…”

“…The yellow fruit genotypes were compared with the red fruit ecotype Ves2001 (E48), which represents a traditional Italian fruit typology (the Vesuvio type) and is characterised by a particular flavour and taste due to its genomic constitution and cultivation in a volcanic area (Carli et al, 2009). This ecotype has been previously characterised at morphological, biochemical, molecular (Ercolano et al, 2008) and sensorial levels (Carli et al, 2011), and therefore, it constitutes a good control for evaluating the organoleptic qualities of the three yellow genotypes that exhibit a similar fruit typology. Most of the parameters evaluated in the present work were consistently variable among the four genotypes, and their values were significantly affected by the thermal treatment, as expected.…”

SNP markers applied to the characterization of Spanish tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) landraces

“…It would be the case of the varieties "De la pera" and "Muchamiel" among others from Spain (Brugarolas et al, 2009), "San Marzano", "Sorrento" and "Vesubio" or "Abruzzese" among others from Italy (Ercolano et al, 2008;Mazzucato et al, 2010) or "Santorini" and "Pastra" among others from Greece (Terzopoulos and Bebeli, 2010). In general, a high level of variation has been described in tomato landraces.…”