Fractionate analysis of the phytochemical composition and antioxidant activities in advanced breeding lines of high-lycopene tomatoes

The results of the first study characterizing new high-lycopene tomato advanced breeding lines, to determine the phytochemical content as well asin vitroantioxidant activities of peel, pulp and seed fractions are presented.</p

Diversity and Valorization of Local Genetic Resources of Cucurbita in Tunisia

Laboratorio de investigación LR21AGR03-Producción y Protección para una Horticultura Sostenible, financiado por el Ministerio de Enseñanza Superior e Investigación Científica de Túnez. Proyecto PID2020-116055RB-C22 I+D+I financiado por MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011003 y el proyecto A11-20R financiado por el Gobierno de Aragón.Publishe

Functional Quality and Colour Attributes of Two High-Lycopene Tomato Breeding Lines Grown under Greenhouse Conditions

This study investigates the antioxidant components (total carotenoids, lycopene, β-carotene, total phenols, flavonoids, ascorbic acid and total vitamin C) as well as the hydrophilic and lipophilic antioxidant activities (HAA and LAA) of tomato genotypes consisting of one ordinary cultivar Rio Grande and the two high-lycopene breeding lines HLT-F71 and HLT-F72. The correlation of nutritional value to L∗, a∗, b∗ colour indexes and a∗/b∗ ratio was also investigated in whole and fresh cut tomato fruits. Except for β-carotene content, significant differences were found among cultivars for antioxidants. The berries of both HLT-lines recorded higher antioxidant contents, HAA and LAA (TEAC and FRAP assays) than Rio Grande. Under controlled conditions, HLT-F72 reached the highest levels of total carotenoids (165.5 mg β-ca Eq per kg fw), lycopene (150.1 mg per kg fw) and total phenolics (549.7 mg GAE per kg fw). However, HLT-F72 exhibited the highest levels of ascorbic acid (193.3 mg per kg fw), total vitamin C (271.6 mg per kg fw) and flavonoids (450.5 mg RE per kg fw). Line HLT-F71 showed the highest HAA (148.0 µM Trolox per 100 g fw and 4.2 mM FRAP per g fw) and LAA values (258.5 µM Trolox per 100 g fw and 3.2 mM FRAP per g fw respectively). Colour readings in red ripe fresh cut tomato berries particularly a∗, b∗ and the ratio a∗/b∗ could represent an indicator not only for lycopene but also for other phytochemicals and resulting antioxidant activities. HLT-Lines may serve as a starting point for the development of semi-determinate growth habit tomato cultivars with higher functional quality

Dynamic changes in health-promoting properties and eating quality during off-vine ripening of tomatoes

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicon L.) fruit is rich in various nutrients, vitamins and health-promoting molecules. Fresh tomatoes are an important part of the Mediterranean gastronomy, and their consumption is thought to contribute substantially to the reduced incidence of some chronic diseases in the Mediterranean populations in comparison with those of other world areas. Unfortunately, tomato fruit is highly perishable, resulting in important economic losses and posing a challenge to storage, logistic and supply management. This review summarizes the current knowledge on some important health-promoting and eating quality traits of tomato fruits after harvest and highlights the existence of substantial cultivar-to-cultivar variation in the postharvest evolution of the considered traits according to maturity stage at harvest and in response to postharvest manipulations. It also suggests the need for adapting postharvest procedures to the characteristics of each particular genotype to preserve the optimal quality of the fresh product

Effect of Individual and Selected Combined Treatments With Saline Solutions and Spent Engine Oil on the Processing Attributes and Functional Quality of Tomato (Solanum lycopersicon L.) Fruit: In Memory of Professor Leila Ben Jaballah Radhouane (1958-2021)

The results showed that soil electrical conductivity, (EC2: 7 dS/m) increased soluble solids, lycopene content, total phenolic content, hydrophilic and lipophilic radical scavenging activities (HRSA and LRSA) by 14.2, 149, 20, 46.4, and 19.0%, respectively, compared with control. Under 0.5% spent engine oil (SEO), flavonoid content decreased by 21.7% compared with the control. HRSA and LRSA of fruits subjected to EC2/SEO1 treatment were, respectively, 45.9 and 35.5% lower than control. The a*/b* ratio was positively and significantly (P < 0.01) correlated with beta-carotene (R = 0.78), lycopene (R = 0.68), total vitamin C (R = 0.71), alpha-tocopherol (R = 0.83), gamma-tocopherol (R = 0.66), HRSA (R = 0.93), LRSA (R = 0.80), and soluble solids (R = 0.84) suggesting that it may be a promising indicator of fruit quality in areas affected by such constraints. The research revealed that combined stresses induce responses markedly different from those of individual treatments, which strain the need to focus on how the interaction between stresses may affect the functional quality of tomato fruits

Analysis of the phytochemical composition of pomegranate fruit juices, peels and kernels: A comparative study on four cultivars grown in Southern Italy

The increasing popularity of pomegranate (Punica granatum L.), driven by the awareness of its nutraceutical properties and excellent environmental adaptability, is promoting a global expansion of its production area. This investigation reports the variability in the weight, moisture, pH, total soluble solids, carbohydrates, organic acids, phenolic compounds, fatty acids, antioxidant activities, and element composition of different fruit parts (juices, peels, and kernels) from four (Ako, Emek, Kamel, and Wonderful One) of the most widely cultivated Israeli pomegranate varieties in Salento (South Italy). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first systematic characterization of different fruit parts from pomegranate cultivars grown simultaneously in the same orchard and subjected to identical agronomic and environmental conditions. Significant genotype-dependent variability was observed for many of the investigated parameters, though without any correlation among fruit parts. The levels of phenols, flavonoids, anthocyanins, and ascorbic and dehydroascorbic acids of all samples were higher than the literature-reported data, as was the antioxidant activity. This is likely due to positive interactions among genotypes, the environment, and good agricultural practices. This study also confirms that pomegranate kernels and peels are, respectively, rich sources of punicic acid and phenols together, with several other bioactive molecules. However, the variability in their levels emphasizes the need for further research to better exploit their agro-industrial potential and thereby increase juice-production chain sustainability. This study will help to assist breeders and growers to respond to consumer and industrial preferences and encourage the development of biorefinery strategies for the utilization of pomegranate by-products as nutraceuticals or value-added ingredients for custom-tailored supplemented foods

Assessment of The Phenolic and Flavonoid Content in Certain Globe Artichoke (Cynara scolymus L.) Cultivars Grown in Northern Tunisia

Artichoke (Cynara scolymus L.) is a worldwide popular horticultural crop. Interest in assessing bioactive compounds with potential health benefits in artichoke is increasing. Therefore, in this study, the variability in total phenolic and flavonoid contents of six artichoke cultivars, including five purple namely Brindisie, Opal, Conserto, Romanesco and Rouge de France as well as an ordinary white artichoke variety were investigated. The results showed significant differences in total phenolic and flavonoid contents between artichoke cultivars. Total phenolic content ranged from 17.31 mg GAE/ g DW in the white artichoke variety to 21.31 mg GAE/g DW in Romanesco. Flavonoid content ranged from 4.51 mg RE/g DW in white artichoke to 7.06 mg RE/g DW in Rouge de France. Therefore, the highest total phenolic content was shown by Romanesco. However, the highest flavonoid content was recorded for both Opal and Rouge de France. This study demonstrates the importance of genotypic variability in shaping the levels of total phenolic and flavonoid, emphasizing the need to evaluate artichoke biodiversity in order to improve its nutritional value and to contribute towards increasing the intake of antioxidants

A Comparative Analysis of XGBoost and Neural Network Models for Predicting Some Tomato Fruit Quality Traits from Environmental and Meteorological Data

The tomato as a raw material for processing is globally important and is pivotal in dietary and agronomic research due to its nutritional, economic, and health significance. This study explored the potential of machine learning (ML) for predicting tomato quality, utilizing data from 48 cultivars and 28 locations in Hungary over 5 seasons. It focused on °Brix, lycopene content, and colour (a/b ratio) using extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost) and artificial neural network (ANN) models. The results revealed that XGBoost consistently outperformed ANN, achieving high accuracy in predicting °Brix (R² = 0.98, RMSE = 0.07) and lycopene content (R² = 0.87, RMSE = 0.61), and excelling in colour prediction (a/b ratio) with a R² of 0.93 and RMSE of 0.03. ANN lagged behind particularly in colour prediction, showing a negative R² value of −0.35. Shapley additive explanation’s (SHAP) summary plot analysis indicated that both models are effective in predicting °Brix and lycopene content in tomatoes, highlighting different aspects of the data. SHAP analysis highlighted the models’ efficiency (especially in °Brix and lycopene predictions) and underscored the significant influence of cultivar choice and environmental factors like climate and soil. These findings emphasize the importance of selecting and fine-tuning the appropriate ML model for enhancing precision agriculture, underlining XGBoost’s superiority in handling complex agronomic data for quality assessment