Effect of Supplementary Lighting on the Quality of Tomato Fruit (Solanum lycopersicum L.) in Autumn-Winter Cultivation

One of the most important factors affecting many physiological processes including the intensity of photosynthesis and thus a proper growth, development and quality of plants is light. Chemical investigations carried out for various vegetable species (lettuce, tomato cucumber) revealed that the use of LED lamps positively affected their growth and phytochemical traits. The present work aims at comparing the effect of supplementary lighting type on the chemical composition and sensory quality of tomato fruits cultivated in the autumn-winter season. Two greenhouse tomato cultivars ('Komeett' F-1 and 'Starbuck' F-1) were used in this experiment. Fruit quality was evaluated by the content of total sugars, dry matter, nitrate (NO3), phosphorus and potassium. Sensory analysis was carried out using the profile method (QDA). The use of a supplementary light source increased the content of total sugars in 'Komeett' F-1 cultivar fruits by 39.4% for HPS and 17.9% when LED light was used. The dry matter content in fruits was at similar level. A lower content of nitrates in tomato fruits was observed in the combinations where plants were lighted with HPS as well as LED lamps. However, there was not a significant effect of supplementary lighting on phosphorus content in tomato fruits. Cultivating tomato with supplementary light significantly affected the fruit sensory quality. Plants supplementary lighted with HPS and LED lamps were characterized by fruit with higher flesh juiciness, sweeter taste and higher overall quality.