Effects of Salinity on Color Changes, Sugar and Acid Concentration in Tomato Fruit
Tomato ( Lycopersicon esculentum , Mill) is vegetable which is relatively resistant to salt concentration in growing substrate. However, research has shown that salinity stress causes changes in the quality of the fruit, which indirectly affects the yield. So the aim of this research was to determine the change in color of ripening fruits, the amount of sugar and acid in the fruit as indicators of the quality of the fruit. Tests were conducted in a greenhouse on tomato cv. Buran F1, where were two varieties of seedlings, grafted and non grafted, grown in the control substrate (EC = 1.7 dS/m) and substrate with EC = 6.8 dS/m. The quality of fruit is observed by a difference in the maturing of the first fruit of the first and second branches of tomatoes, and through the concentration of sugar and acid in the fruit, depending on the position of the plants. The obtained results show that salinity induces higher sugar content and total acidity in grafted and non-grafted tomato fruits. Also salinity leads to faster ripening of grafted and non-grafted tomato.