Determination of the relationship between respiration rate and ethylene production by fruit sizes of different tomato types

BACKGROUND Tomatoes of different types and cultivars are grown in different parts of the world. Accordingly, the phenological, pomological and biochemical characteristics of these types and cultivars may differ from each other, and therefore their ripening behaviours may also differ. The present study aimed to determine the respiration rate and ethylene production of twelve commonly grown cultivars in Turkey at harvest and during the ripening stage. The fruits were harvested at the mature green stage and categorized according to their size as small, medium and large‐fruited cultivars. RESULTS At harvest time, the highest respiration rate was determined from ‘Moda’ (small‐fruited) cultivar and the lowest was from ‘Elips’ (medium‐fruited). The highest ethylene production was determined from ‘Sarikiz’ (small‐fruited) and the lowest was from ‘Alberty’ (large‐fruited). All tomato cultivars examined in the study showed climacteric respiration behavior during the ripening, and it was determined that small‐fruited types had a higher respiration rate and ethylene production compared to medium and large‐fruited ones. ‘Sarikiz’ (small‐fruited) had the highest climacteric peak and ‘Gulpembe’ (large‐fruited) had the lowest. Moreover, it was determined that the respiration rate of small‐fruited cultivars were 5.01‐fold higher compared to other cultivars and this type of cultivars produced 4.19‐fold higher ethylene compared to big‐fruited cultivars at harvest. Medium‐fruited tomatoes had 1.90‐fold higher respiration rate and 1.64‐fold ethylene production compared to big‐fruited tomatoes. CONCLUSION It was determined that fruit size and respiration rate were related independently of the cultivars, although there was no relationship between fruit size and ethylene production. © 2022 Society of Chemical Industry.