Effect of natural light on surface temperature and lycopene content of vine ripened tomato fruit

Indeterminate round type tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) grown on a supporting trellace system in the field was used to determine the correlation between light exposure and the surface temperature and lycopene content of tomato fruit. The positive correlation between solar radiation and surface temperature was stronger (R 2 = 0.87) on non-shaded (NS) than on shaded (SF) (R 2 >= 0.79) tomato fruits. There was strong negative correlation (R 2 = 0.95) between surface temperature and lycopene content of tomato fruits. Increasing solar radiation and temperature explained the lower content of lycopene content and therefore the loss of nutritional quality of the non-shaded tomato fruits. Key words: Tomato, fruit surface temperature, lycopene