Comparative post-harvest behaviour of traditional and virus-resistant Muchamiel tomatoes

BACKGROUND: Nowadays, organoleptic quality is the primary objective for almost all tomato breeding programmes. In this study, post-harvest behaviour of a breeding line with genetic resistance to important viruses (tomato mosaic virus, tomato spotted wilt virus and tomato yellow leaf curl virus) has been compared with the original traditional landrace (Muchamiel). The breeding line has been obtained by backcrossing, introgressing three resistance genes but aiming to keep the quality characteristics of the traditional variety. Tomatoes were picked at random and stored at 10 degrees C for 13 days. Quality analyses were made in both tomato samples: weight loss, colour, respiration rate, ethylene production, maturity index, instrumental hardness and sensory evaluation with trained panel. RESULTS: Fruits of the breeding line were characterized by higher hardness even with a higher maturity index. Results of sensory tests were in agreement with instrumental measurements. Organoleptic quality of Muchamiel virus-resistant tomatoes was at least as high as that of traditional tomatoes, reaching the best scores in odour and aroma at the 13th storage day. CONCLUSION: Although a long time has been required to develop the breeding line, results indicate that organoleptic fruit quality has been recovered through backcrossing, confirming the success of the breeding programme. (C) 2010 Society of Chemical Industry