Not AvailableTen commercial and three exotic/wild cultivars (cvs) grown under Indian conditions were analyzed for
variations in lycopene, b-carotene, total phenolics, quercetin, ascorbic acid and antioxidant activity
(AOX). AOX was measured using three in vitro assays namely ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP),
2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC) assays. The
lycopene content in tomato cvs ranged from 4.31 to 5.97 mg/100 g fw. The wild/exotic cvs had exceptionally
high total phenolic content (141.98 mg/100 g fw), quercetin (56 mg/g fw) and total AOX
(5.39 mmol TE/g fw). Solanum pimpinellifolium, with nearly six times lycopene content than commercial
cvs, may serve as the most desirable gene pool in breeding programmes to develop functional tomatoes.
Results suggest that TEAC may be more useful than DPPH assay for detecting total AOX in tomatoes.Not Availabl
