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European long shelf-life (LSL) tomato landraces can be classified into two main groups: the Italian group, including 'Piennolo' landraces, and the Spanish group, including the 'Penjar' and 'Ramellet' landraces. In this study, a partially common set of 'Piennolo' and 'Penjar-Ramellet' varieties was grown in Italy and Spain to evaluate the effect of different agro-environmental and storage conditions on fruit quality and shelf-life. Overall, both Italian and Spanish LSL genotypes lost their peculiar phenotype in terms of physicochemical properties and shelf-life behavior when not grown in their original agro-environment. To better understand the sensory attributes that drive consumers' preferences, all varieties were characterized using descriptive sensory analysis combined with hedonic tests. The evaluations were conducted postharvest on raw and processed products according to the country's culinary tradition (baked in Italy; spread on bread in Spain). Sensory description by trained panels conducted on raw and processed products highlighted different sensory profiles between the two LSL tomato groups. In the 'Piennolo' group, a reduction in sensory diversity among the genotypes was observed in the baked products compared to the raw ones, while this trend was not observed for the 'Penjar-Ramellet' group. None of the varieties fully met the consumers' preferences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Due to global warming, the search for new sources for heat tolerance and the identification of genes involved in this process has become an important challenge as of today. The main objective of the current research was to verify whether the heat tolerance determined in controlled greenhouse experiments could be a good predictor of the agronomic performance in field cultivation under climatic high temperature stress. Results: Tomato accessions were grown in greenhouse under three temperature regimes: control (T1), moderate (T2) and extreme heat stress (T3). Reproductive traits (flower and fruit number and fruit set) were used to define heat tolerance. In a first screening, heat tolerance was evaluated in 219 tomato accessions. A total of 51 accessions were identified as being potentially heat tolerant. Among those, 28 accessions, together with 10 accessions from Italy (7) and Bulgaria (3), selected for their heat tolerance in the field in parallel experiments, were re-evaluated at three temperature treatments. Sixteen tomato accessions showed a significant heat tolerance at T3, including five wild species, two traditional cultivars and four commercial varieties, one accession from Bulgaria and four from Italy. The 15 most promising accessions for heat tolerance were assayed in field trials in Italy and Bulgaria, confirming the good performance of most of them at high temperatures. Finally, a differential gene expression analysis in pre-anthesis (ovary) and post-anthesis (developing fruit) under heat stress among pairs of contrasting genotypes (tolerant and sensitive from traditional and modern groups) showed that the major differential responses were produced in post-anthesis fruit. The response of the sensitive genotypes included the induction of HSP genes, whereas the tolerant genotype response included the induction of genes involved in the regulation of hormones or enzymes such as abscisic acid and transferases. Conclusions: The high temperature tolerance of fifteen tomato accessions observed in controlled greenhouse experiments were confirmed in agronomic field experiments providing new sources of heat tolerance that could be incorporated into breeding programs. A DEG analysis showed the complex response of tomato to heat and deciphered the different mechanisms activated in sensitive and tolerant tomato accessions under heat stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consumer dissatisfaction with the flavor quality of many modern fresh market tomato varieties has fostered breeders' interest in sensory quality improvement, and the demand for traditional varieties, which are generally associated with better flavor. To achieve further knowledge on the factors influencing the sensory quality and consumers' preferences and perception, European traditional and modern fresh market tomato varieties were grown and evaluated in France, Italy, and Spain. Different growing conditions were tested in France (soilless vs. soil) and in Spain (open field vs. greenhouse), while in Italy fruits were evaluated at two ripening stages. Fruit quality was assessed by integrating physicochemical analyses, sensory profiles, and consumer tests. In all three countries, overall modern varieties were perceived as having more intense "tomato flavor" and "overall flavor" than traditional ones. In France and Spain, consumers' preferences were more oriented towards modern varieties than traditional ones. Significant growing condition effects were found on sensory and physicochemical traits, while the effect on consumers' overall liking was not significant, largely depending on the genotype. A fair agreement between product configurations from descriptive analysis by trained assessors and Check-All-That-Apply (CATA) questions by consumers was observed. Penalty-lift analysis based on CATA allowed identifying positive and negative drivers of liking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]