The Effects of Hydrothermal Conditions during Vegetation Period on Fruit Quality of Processing Tomatoes.

Our experiment was carried out in experimental plots of the Vegetable Experimental Station of the Agricultural University in Mydlniki near Kraków, Poland in 2008-10. The year 2008 was characterized by the driest season of all three years, whereas in the other years of the study the vegetation season seemed moderately humid. Based on the analyses of regression, we found a significant influence of pluvial and thermal conditions on the fruit quality features of tomatoes. A directly proportional relationship between the hydrothermal index (K) and the number of seed chambers, dry matter, and content of lycopene, magnesium, and calcium of the tomato fruit was observed. However, the relationship between the hydrothermal index (K) and fruit weight, potassium content, and total acidity turned out to be inversely proportional. The impact of the hydrothermal conditions on the thickness of the pericarp, the shape coefficient, phosphorus; L-ascorbic acid content, and the reducing sugars of the fruits was not observed. The value distribution of the tested tomato features in all of the years of the experiment points to the different sensitivities of individual tomato cultivars to thermal and precipitation conditions. The aim of this study was to determine the influence of hydrothermal conditions represented by the hydrothermal index (K) on the morphological features of tomato fruits and their chemical composition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]