The production of lycopene is inhibited by excessive sunlight (Brandt et al., 2006) and the best way to protect the fruit from direct exposure to the sun is the use of
photo-selective color shade nets.
It has been reported that biosynthesis of lycopene is strongly influenced
by environmental factors, especially daily air temperature (optimum
between 22 and 25 ◦C) and exposure to sunlight (Lumpkin,
2005; Dumas et al., 2003).