Physiology of Tomato Plants and Fruits Quality
under High EC
Min Wu, Ph.D. student, Plant
Sciences
Growing tomatoes in
greenhouse is a recent trend in U.S. From 1996 to 2001, there has
been about a 40 percent increase in greenhouse tomato acreage in the
United States. Although greenhouse tomato production is higher than
in the field, the operating costs are also high for greenhouse
production. For greenhouse production to be profitable, a price
premium must also be available. It is a demanding need to produce a
high-quality fruit with a higher value than field tomatoes under
greenhouse condition. This study aims to develop a useful method for
improving tomato fruit quality by increasing sugar and organic acid
content under controlled greenhouse in semiarid area. The main
technology we use includes adjusting electrical conductivity (EC) under
irrigation dripping system. Increasing EC level in greenhouse allows
the growers to limit the water availability to the tomato plant and hence
improve the sweetness and acid content in tomato fruits. Several
research have shown that increasing the EC may also lead to other
improvement for tomato fruit quality, e.g. increasing fruit color indices,
the proportion of high grade fruits, and a reduction of uneven ripening
fruits. We will examine the feasibility of such production
techniques with different cultivars. The plant physiological
response during different development stages will be studied. The
postharvest durability of fruits is also a very important quality
criterion. Production practices may also affect the flavor quality
of tomatoes. With the increasing of sugar and acid content in
fruits, the flavor and texture are changed. Therefore, the
postharvest characteristics of tomato fruits will be different.
The
objective of this research is to develop a suitable method of high-quality
tomato fruits production in controlled environment greenhouse under a
semiarid area. The specific objectives are: 1. to investigate the
plant physiological responses under different EC level solutions; 2. to
study the plant growth response to controlled environmental conditions; 3.
to analyze the postharvest characteristics of fruits grown in different
conditions; 4. to provide information for the large-scale commercial
growers and greenhouse industry supporters.
Cooperator: Dr. Chieri
Kubota, PLS
In Progress
2005 |
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