Sugar and acid profile of processing tomato cultivars grown under conventional or organic conditions

The optimization of tomato taste has gained importance during the last years following consumer demands of higher quality. At the same time consumers also demand a minimum impact on the environment during cultivation. The effect of conventional and organic cultivation on the sugar and acid profile of processing cultivars has been studied in the two main growing regions in Spain. Standard and high lycopene cultivars have been used in order to study the possibility of combining organoleptic and functional quality. High differences in the acid profile (malic vs. citric) and in the sugar accumulation of the cultivars were found. In some cases, the higher values in the content of taste-related compounds coincide with previously described high lycopene contents. The cultivation system had no significant effect on malic and citric acid accumulation, but it affected sugar accumulation and the sucrose equivalents (SEq) to citric and glutamic acid ratios. On average, 7.7 and 10.4% higher contents of glucose and fructose respectively were obtained with the organic cultivation system. The SEq to citric acid and SEq to glutamic acid ratios were consequently higher with this system (8.3 and 46.3% respectively). Organic cultivation of high lycopene cultivars might be an excellent selection to combine high organoleptic and functional quality targeted to quality markets.