Color and lycopene content of several commercial tomato varieties at different harvesting dates

Both the flesh and skin of the tomato fruit should be fully red. This is the first quality attribute that the consumer perceives, and color also determines other quality factors, such as flavor and aroma. The characteristic red color of tomato results from a combination of carotenoid pigments, of which lycopene is the most abundant. Carotenoid functions are under investigation by several research teams, and scientific data on anti-oxidative and anti-cancer properties, among others, have been published. The main human dietary source of lycopene is the ripe red tomato. This study analyzes the influence of two harvesting dates (optimum and 2 weeks later) on the agronomic and physical-chemical parameters of several well-known commercial tomato varieties and focuses on color and carotenoid content. The results show that (1) the variety of tomato has a stronger influence on the fruit lycopene content than does delayed harvest; (2) the perceptible color attributes of the tomato fruit do not always correlate with carotenoid content, and (3) the search for tomato fruit with high lycopene content must be a compromise with other agronomic and technological parameters.