Physicochemical changes in seven tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) cultivars during ripening

Seven tomato cultivars were studied for compositional changes during ripening at green, breaker, turner, and ripe stages. Result indicated changes in total soluble solids (4.15 to 6.62 g/100 g), acidity (0.36 to 0.54 g/100 g), reducing sugars (0.76 to 4.04 g/100 g), total sugars (1.67 to 5.52 g/100 g), lycopene in skin (0.07 to 14.28 mg/100 g), and in pulp (0.04 to 6.73 mg/100 g) during ripening from green to red ripe stage. Cultivar UC-828 was found superior with respect to total soluble solids (6.62 g/100 g), reducing sugars (4.04 g/100 g), and total sugars (5.52 g/100 g) where as cultivar 8-2-1-2-5 was found superior with respect to lycopene in skin (14.28 mg/100 g) and in pulp (6.73 mg/100 g). Hunter color values showed a change from negative value of 'a' (greenness) to positive values (redness) where as 'b' decreased. The (b/a) and tan(-1) (b/a) showed a similar pattern of first increased and then decreased. The puncture resistance was decreased from 10.5 to 2.3 N indicating softening during ripening. Correlation studies showed that lycopene content best correlated with Hunter 'a' values during ripening (R-2 = 0.84 to 0.93). Intercultivar variation in physicochemical parameters at all stages of ripening revealed that Castle Rock was the best cultivar.