ARS | Publication request: Biochemical evaluation of tomato germplasm part I: workflow and methods

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: April 2, 2012
Publication Date: June 5, 2012
Citation: Robertson, L.D., Sheffer, S.M., Labate, J.A. 2012. Biochemical evaluation of tomato germplasm part I: workflow and methods. Plant Germplasm Operations Committee Meeting. Vol. 4, p. 1.

Technical Abstract: Of the seed crop species conserved at PGRU, tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is the largest in terms of numbers of accessions. Furthermore, tomato ranks very high among vegetable crops in economic importance to the US. We are characterizing a tomato core collection for traits that are of interest to end-users and consumers, particularly biochemical traits related to fruit quality components. Such traits include vitamin C (ascorbic acid), titratable acids (TA), total soluble solids (TSS or °brix) and lycopene. Collaborative work is in progress for nitrogen containing metabolites, and subjectively measured traits including fruity odor, fruity flavor, and overall flavor. These data will be made available through the Germplasm Resources Information Network http://www.ars-grin.gov/gen. Here we present the protocols and strategies for efficiently evaluating hundreds of fruit samples during a field season.