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Comparative physiology during ripening in tomato rich-anthocyanins fruits

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Abstract

Solanum lycopersicum L. (tomato) is a very important fruit vegetable with high economic importance and nutritional impact on the consumers worldwide. Moreover, tomato fruits are an important source of nutraceutical compounds. This work describes the physiological diversity affecting the ripening process that yields variation in fruit pigmentation with regard to anthocyanins compounds for one non-anthocyanin-accumulating (Ailsa Craig) and two anthocyanin-accumulating tomato genotypes (anthocyanin fruit type, low pigment accumulation, and Sun Black, high pigment accumulation). Using tomato fruits obtained by traditional breeding the present study reported modified hormone equilibrium at different ripening stages. This phenomenon can be considered as a consequence of the different pattern in the anthocyanins accumulation in fruits. Moreover, the fruit genotype showing the highest pigment accumulation appear more firm at the commercial stage. Overall, these results showed the considerable potential of exploiting natural genetic diversity to obtain tomatoes with higher levels of anthocyanins, and different quality traits such as colour and firmness.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment, Università degli Studi di Pisa, 56124, Pisa, Italy

    Eva Borghesi & Fernando Malorgio

  2. Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Università degli Studi di Milano, 20133, Milan, Italy

    Antonio Ferrante & Giacomo Cocetta

  3. Lab. Colour y Calidad de Alimentos, Universidad de Sevilla, Fac. Farmacia, 41012, Seville, Spain

    Belén Gordillo, Francisco J. Rodríguez-Pulido & Francisco J. Heredia

  4. Life Science Institute, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, 56100, Pisa, Italy

    Alice Trivellini & Anna Mensuali-Sodi

Authors
  1. Eva Borghesi
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  2. Antonio Ferrante
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  3. Belén Gordillo
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  4. Francisco J. Rodríguez-Pulido
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  5. Giacomo Cocetta
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  6. Alice Trivellini
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  7. Anna Mensuali-Sodi
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  8. Fernando Malorgio
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  9. Francisco J. Heredia
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alice Trivellini.

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Borghesi, E., Ferrante, A., Gordillo, B. et al. Comparative physiology during ripening in tomato rich-anthocyanins fruits. Plant Growth Regul 80, 207–214 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10725-016-0158-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10725-016-0158-y

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