Fruit cracking in tomatoes can cause serious
economic losses in the field. Cracks decrease
the attractiveness of the fruit and offer
an entry point for insects and decay organisms.
Although this can cause significant income
loss in the fresh market and processing tomato
industries (Calbo, 1990; Cotner et al., 1969;
Walter, 1967), cracking occurs only sporadically
for most commercial tomato growers
because they use crack-resistant cultivars. In
addition, fruit grown commercially for fresh
market is normally harvested at the maturegreen
or breaker stage when cracking is less
likely. Home gardeners, greenhouse growers,
and growers for local or specialty markets are
much more vulnerable to fruit cracking losses
because their cultivars lack crack resistance
and because fruit is harvested at the pink stage
or later