Evaluation of a subset of the solanum lycopersicum var. cerasiforme core collection for horticultural quality and fruit phenolic content

Abstract

One hundred S. l. var. cerasiforme (Dunal) accessions from the 'Tanksley' designated core collection were evaluated for horticultural quality under greenhouse conditions. Fourteen selected accessions were grown under field conditions in a replicated trial to evaluate the fruit for phenolic content. Total fruit phenolics ranged from 44 to 82 mg/100 g gallic acid equivalents (GAE) fresh weight (FW)as measured by Folin-Ciocalteau assay (F-C), and 12 to 108 mg/100 g FW as measured by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Five accessions (LA1712, LA1455, LA2633, LA1668, and LA2632) had significantly higher total phenolics (F-C) than cultivars (P ≤ 0.05). These five accessions also possessed interesting phenolics profiles, including high levels of caffeoylquinic acids (LA1620, LA1455, and LA2633) and rutin (LA2633).