PRELIMINARY STUDY ON THE FRUIT MORPHOLOGY, AGRONOMIC, AND PHYSIO-CHEMICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF TOMATO VARIETIES IN GREENHOUSE CONDITIONS

Greenhouses are now one of the most effective industries in agricultural structure, used to preserve a monitored environment suitable for crop management throughout the year. The demand for tomato products is increasing year after year, providing ample opportunities for the tomato market to grow. The variety of tomato genotypes provides a gene pool for future breeding, because they may contain traits useful for the development of new varieties and hybrids with improved quantitative and qualitative characteristics. The study aimed to evaluate the performance of five indeterminate genotypes of tomato to determine their performance under greenhouse conditions. The research was conducted utilizing biological material from the Vegetable Research and Development Station in Bacau. The data collected were: number of days till appearance of the first flowers, number of days till first fruit development, date of first harvest, as well as the outer color of the immature and ripe fruit. The results of investigations on phenotype characteristics such as fruit weight, height, diameter, dry matter content, TSS, water, minerals, and titratable acidity are discussed in the paper.