Development of a methodology to forecast the nutritional value of new tomato hybrids

Tomato is a food of great relevance both due to its large-scale consumption and its richness in bioactive components. It is an important component of the traditional Mediterranean diet as well as of other diets. Nowadays, concerns about human health and environment preservation have changed the objectives of tomato breeding. In this study, eight tomato F₁ hybrids and their parental lines were analyzed for nutritional properties and agronomic traits using a new selection method that combines biochemical and agronomic evaluation. Eight traits contributing to the nutritional quality of tomato (lycopene, β-carotene, other carotenoids, flavonoids, phenolic acids, vitamins C and E, dry residue) and average yield were assessed in fifteen tomato genotypes. Furthermore the pathogen resistances possessed from these genotypes were, also, considered. In order to select valuable tomato hybrids, a nutritional index (I_QUAN) and an agronomic index (AI) were calculated. Our results suggested that the I_QUAN nutritional index may be very useful to forecast the nutritional value of F₁ hybrids based on parental performance. Combining the use of the I_QUAN and AI indexes, we were able to select two hybrids (MR 48 and MR 47) that contain considerable amounts of antioxidants and acceptable parameters for commercial production.