High temperature-tolerant tomato lines: bioactive compounds.

Abstract

The functional quality of newly developed high temperature tolerant tomato lines was investigated in terms of lycopene, ß-carotene, ascorbic acid and phenolic compounds to assist breeders for the selection of high temperature tolerant tomato varieties with high nutritional quality. 19 tomato lines including control varieties from the “Turkey F1 Hybrid vegetable variety and quality line development” project were selected for investigation. Line 11 was superior in lycopene and ß-carotene content while line 18 in ascorbic acid as compared to control varieties Cansun F1 and Alsancak RN F1. Urfa 2012 and line 28 were found to have the highest numbers of phenolic compounds. Chlorogenic acid, rutin and trans-ferulic acid were the main phenolic compounds detected in all tomato lines at high concentrations. These newly released tomato lines can be used as value-added germplasm or parents to develop new heat tolerant cultivars in a breeding programmes or as a commercial cultivar for their superior functional qualities.