Comparative Study of the Biochemical Properties of the Fruits of Wild (Lycopersicon pimpinellifolium Jusl. (Mill.)) and the Cultivated (L. esculentum Mill.) Tomato Cultivars in Nigeria

3 PAGES (2433 WORDS) Horticulture Paper

Abstract


Thefruitsofthreecultivarsofthecultivatedtomato (Lycopersiconesculentum)andthewildspecies (L.pimpinellifolium)wereanalysed andcompared fortheirbiochemicalproperties. Ripefruitsat theorange-redstagewereusedforall theanalyses.Both thecultivated andthewildtomatospeciesshowedhighmoisturecontents. Thewildtomatocultivarhadahighercrudeproteincontentandquantitatively represents thebettersourceofproteinintakewhencomparedwith thecultivatedcultivars. Thecrude fibrecontent washighestin L. esculentumcv.RomaV.F.TheashcontentwashigherintheIbadanlocalandwildcultivarsthanintheothercultivars. Peroxidase activitywasfoundtobehighestin L.pimpinellifolium,whilecatalaseactivitywashighestin  L.esculentumcvIfe-1.Glutathione transferaseactivitieswasnegligibleinallthesamplesanalysed.


Keywords:Tomato, Lycopersiconesculentum,L.pimpinellifolium, cultivars,biochemicalproperties,peroxidase,catalase