Seed Number,Specific Gravity and External Appearance of Hollow Tomato Fruits

Experiments were carried out in Israel over several years with outdoor winter tomatoes, cv. Moneymaker. It was concluded that generally no correlation exists between the average number or weight of seeds per fruit and the frequency or grade of hollowness. The separation of regular, globe-shaped from irregularly shaped fruit substantially reduced the percentage of hollowness of the samples. The immersion of tomato fruits in tap or distilled water allowed satisfactory separation between hollow fruits, most of which floated on the surface, and normal fruits which mostly sank to the bottom.