Agriculture Reference
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between the organic and conventional tomatoes could be due to the control over the ripening,
transportation and storage conditions [54].
The results showed that the lycopene content in organic tomatoes was higher than in conven‐
tional tomatoes. The average content of this pigment in the organic fruit was 2.92 mg 100 -1 g
f.w., while for conventional tomatoes it was 2.84 mg 100 -1 g f.w. (Fig. 1).
Different tomato cultivars produce different lycopene levels. 'Elpida' in organic production
contained more lycopene in fruit than the other two cultivars (3.75 mg 100 -1 g f.w.). Differences
in sunlight and temperature between the years might be a cause for the contradictory obser‐
vations.
5,0
4,5
a
4,0
a
a
3,5
b
b
b
3,0
2,5
2,0
1,5
1,0
0,5
0,0
Organic Conventional
Organic Conventional
Organic Conventional
Amati
Elpida
Robin
Figure 1. Lycopene content (mg 100g -1 ) in organic and conventional tomato cultivars
Tomatoes from organic cultivation contained more carotenoids compared to conventional
cultivation. The cultivar 'Amati' contained the lowest level of carotenoids in fruit in both
cultivation systems. These differences were statistically significant (p=005). Organically grown
'Robin' produced the highest level of carotenoids in fruit (4.03 mg 100g -1 ) comparing to the
other two cultivars (Fig. 2).
Studies on carotene and lycopene contents in organic tomatoes, have reported different results
including both higher levels [52] and lower levels [53] when compared with conventional
methods. No consistent effect of the farming system on the content of bioactive antioxidant
compounds [32; 19] was also reported.
Differences between organic and conventional tomatoes can be explained by the fertilizer used
in both cases. 'Organic farming doesn't use nitrogenous fertilizers; as a result, plants respond
 
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