QUANTITATIVE-ANALYSIS OF FLAVOR PARAMETERS IN 6 FLORIDA TOMATO CULTIVARS (LYCOPERSICON-ESCULENTUM MILL)

Mature green tomato fruits from six Florida-grown tomato cultivars, Duke, Sunny, Solar Set, Bonita, Olympic, and IFAS 7209, were harvested and allowed to ripen at 21-degrees-C. Ripe fruits were homogenized and analyzed for sugar and acid content, and significant differences were found for glucose, fructose, and citric acid. By use of a headspace analysis technique, 17 volatile components were detected and quantified in tomato homogenate. Nine volatile components (hexanal, trans-2-hexenal, cis-3-hexenal, geranylacetone, acetone, 6-methyl-5-hepten-2-one, 1-penten-3-one, methanol, and 2-isobutylthiazole), some of which are reported to be important for fresh tomato flavor, showed significant differences between cultivars. Of the six cultivars tested, Solar Set generally showed the highest volatile levels, while Olympic showed the lowest.