Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) fruit quality and physiological parameters at different ripening stages of Lithuanian cultivars.

Four cultivars ('Neris', 'Svara', 'Vytėnu didieji', 'Jurgiai') and one hybrid ('Vaisa') of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) were investigated at the Lithuanian Institute of Horticulture from 2007-2008. During this investigation fruit quality and physiological parameters were evaluated: the lycopene and β-carotene contents, colour indices (CIE L * a * ) and hue angle (h°) with chroma (C) at four different fruit ripening stages (I stage - green, II stage - beginning of ripening, III - not fully ripened, IV - fully ripened) A significant increase in lycopene and β-carotene content at each successive ripening stage of tomato fruit was recorded. Tomato fruit colour became darker and the ratio of red to green colour increased during the ripening process. Chroma value increased with a change of tomato colour from green to light red, and subsequently declined at the red fruit stage, but chroma of the hybrid 'Vaisa' increased at all ripening stages. External colour was expressed in terms of hue angle. All the analyzed tomato cultivars developed a similar colour when mature, with average hue angles generally being close to 40 degrees, but the cultivar 'Neris' had lower hue value (32 degrees).