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The Ri4 and Ri5 selfed progenies were selected for kanamycin resistance. Con-
sequently, they were either homozygous or hemizygous. The field trial was per-
formed, following authorization by the Italian Ministry of Health (B/IT/02/10
Pomodoro - DefH9-iaaM), at the experimental farm of the Marche Polytechnic
University located in Agugliano (Ancona - IT). The experimental design used a
latin square with 4 replications, each containing 20 plants at a density of 3 plants/
m2. The plants were grown in a single row in soil mulched with black plastic poly-
ethylene film (0.05 mm thick) and standard agronomical techniques were applied
throughout the growing season. Plantlets at the third-fourth true leaf were trans-
planted on May 12, 2003. Harvest was in the last week of August. The following
traits were recorded: number and weight of ripe tomatoes (marketable produc-
tion), number and weight of unripe and rotten fruits (unmarketable production).
For each plot, the percentage of fruits containing at least 1 seed, the mean number
of seeds/fruit, the fruit shape index (polar/equatorial ratio), puffiness index evalu-
ated by an arbitrary scale from 1 (no puffy fruit) to 3 (deep puffy fruit) and the
number of locules was recorded using a representative sample of fruits.
biochemical and Physical Analyses
All the analyses were performed on a representative sample of fruits from each
replicated plot. The physical quality traits (texture, color, firmness, dry matter
content), chemical quality traits (soluble solid content-°Brix, pH, titratable acid-
ity, acidic profile, vitamin C levels, total polyphenol levels) and antioxidant activ-
ity were determined after 72 hours from the harvest, with 24 hours conditioning
at 4°C prior to analysis.
Physical Analyses
Color measurements were performed with a reflectance colorimeter Minolta
Chromameter CR 200 (Minolta Co., Osaka, Japan), which measured the central
part of the surface of tomatoes. L*, a* and b* values were calculated. L* represents
the brightness, in particular a value close to 100 means a very high light; a* is an
index of red color (i.e. a high positive value means a strong red color while a high
negative value means a green color); b* is an index of yellow color (i.e. a high
positive value indicates intense yellow color while a high negative value indicate
a blue color).
The firmness of the tomato fruits was determined with a dynamometer In-
stron model 4301 (Instron Corporation, Canton, MA, USA) by measuring the
maximum force (kg) required to make an hole on the skin of the tomato using a
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